Legends of the Hero of Time

by Ryan-Sinclair

The Hero of Time, Link, is blessed by the Golden Goddesses with a normal existence, free for himself to rule over. He must learn the true meaning of life as he attempts to join Hylian society. Along the way, he finds a family to call his own. Protecting and loving them, as a new threat emerges, he grows to understand how he must still endure the challenges of fate.

20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

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[Time: 10:15 A.M. (Morning)]

[Date: Month 6 'Early-Summer', Day 24, 8th Era]

(Location: Hyrule, Castle Town - Market)

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Two months and a week had passed; things had mostly returned to normal for Link and the Lon Family since the startling revelation that Lord Dragmire was still plotting revenge. The hero and Malon had now embraced their budding relationship, seemingly always together now. They never forget to express their love for one another. Most of their affection was still centered around hugs and hand holding, however their make-out sessions had slowly increased as well. While Link continued to be warily concerned with the nefarious happenings in the Geldo region, since he had placed trust in Nabooru to covertly gain information for him, he had done a stupendous job in holding himself back from taking further action. Instead of making it his mission to fulfill what remained of his destiny by utterly eliminating Ganondorf from existence, he kept his head down, acting like a generic citizen while gathering all the intel he could and hiding within the shadows of everybody else that lived in the kingdom.

One of the best ways Link found to keep his mind off the brewing troubles was by keeping himself occupied with ranch-work. Today, Talon took the two kids with him to CastleTown to make deliveries. The hero and Malon had been entrusted by the farmgirl's father to deliver as well as make the transaction with Dr. Euclid at the sanitarium. Malon was particularly excited to be handling the exchange because it meant that her dad had placed trust in her responsibility, knowing she'd handle it well; proof that he had heeded Nabooru's advice about her no longer being a reckless child.

"I can't believe daddy actually let me do this!" Malon chirped as she carried two crates of supplies stacked atop each other.

Link grunted as he hauled a large wooden box away from the back of their wagon, making sure to not drop it or run into anybody. "I don't really want to go back there though." He lamented. "The doctor is creepy and the place smells bad."

Giggling, Malon replied with "Oh? Are you scared he's going to do something to you again?"

Rolling his eyes, Link huffed with a pouty smile. "No! I mean, it's not like I enjoyed any of the stuff they did. Hylian medicine is weird. Blowing smoke in someone's ear for health? What's up with that? Kokiri just wash their ears with water."

"You're scared." Malon interjected jokingly, teasing her beloved boyfriend.

"I am not!" Link insisted with ears slightly reddened in embarrassment. "Ughh, this box is so heavy."

"Don't change the subject!" The red-headed girl poked fun as she sauntered along down the road leading to the eastern district where the sanitarium was. "You're scared! The great Hero of Hyrule, scared of prodding doctors! Oh my goodness!" She proceeded to laugh at the notion just to get a rise out of him.

Abashed by his girlfriend's snarky comments, this time the boy asserted his confidence. "I promise I'm not scared! I'd kick that guy in the head if he creeped me out too much! You'll see what I mean whenever you meet him. He's like a-... a bird-man or something."

"Bird-man?" Malon inquired through a stifled snicker.

Grumbling at the teasing even though he slightly enjoyed it since it was simply her doting attention on him, Link still confirmed his strange terminology by saying "Yeah. I can't explain it. He acts like someone posing as a human, a fake human... a machine…... I don't-… Plus, that beak mask doesn't help in the least bit either. It makes him look like a bird. You'll see. He's creepy."

"Eh." Malon rejected the thought of being creeped out by the doctor. "I've met him a couple of times when I was sick and he came to the ranch on housecall. It's been a while, but I don't really remember him being any different than anyone else."

Seeing that he wasn't going to win this one, he sighed and gave up with a smiling chuckle. "Okay, okay. Maybe I am a bit scared of him then."

Glancing back for a split-second, she said "I knew it." before winking at the boy.

In that single moment of looking away, as they passed by an alleyway between two buildings, someone came out of it holding onto several empty crates stacked up atop each other. Upon looking forward again, Malon just barely managed to stop in time to avoid running into the guy. To the man's dismay, the abrupt stop of his own made two of the crates fall to the ground with a thud against the cobblestone. Luckily, the crates didn't break and were totally empty. Nonetheless, the commotion made the two kids worry they had messed up.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" Malon immediately apologized to the man.

"Here, let me get that for you." Link responded to the event as he gently placed the heavy wooden box down on the ground prior to walking in front of the farmgirl to pick up the crates the man had dropped. "I'm sorry about that too. We weren't paying attention."

"Awe, that's alright." The big-nosed long black-haired man wearing a red tunic and brown stockings accepted the apology in a deep voice. As he took a tobacco pipe out of his mouth, he spewed smoke from his nose. "Stuff happens. At least they were empty or else I'd have a big mess on my hands."

"Yes sir." Link acknowledged as he picked up the empty crates in advance of stacking them atop the one the man still held onto.

Malon smiled at her boyfriend's kind-heartedness in always wanting to right wrongs. "Thank you, Link. You're my hero."

Although the boy barely acknowledged the farmgirl with more than a small grin, the strange man took note of who the boy was and showed gratitude of his own. "And, I thank you as well, Mr. Link."

"It's no problem, no problem at all." The boy assured the man since it was their fault and not his. "You enjoy the rest of your morning and have a good day."

Placing the pipe back in his mouth in order to hold onto the crates with both hands, the man nodded in confirmation. "You too." Afterward, he proceeded to cross in front of them into the alleyway on the other side of the road. He glanced back at the duo and smiled when he saw them watching. Looking forward, he then kept going a bit further before turning to go into another alley, vanishing from sight.

Walking back over to the heavy wooden box, Link lifted it up prior to carrying it down the cobblestone, knowing they were getting closer to the sanitarium. "Alright, let's get this done so we can get back to The Market. I wanted to introduce you to Mr. Happy first, in case he decides to hide from me again. But, your dad demanded we make this delivery instead."

"That's daddy." Malon replied. "Besides, he's right. It's business first, then we can do… like... whatever."

"Oh please." Link poked fun at her to get her back for all the previous joking around. "You just want to use your free time to kiss my face off."

"Touche." The farmgirl smirked at the truth as they turned at the corner that led down to the Sanitarium.

For the next couple of minutes, the two remained quiet as they continued hauling the supplies. Without any other distractions, they made it to their destination in no time at all. From the back and side, the structure in question was bigger than the surrounding ones, but otherwise no different. Only whenever they saw the front of the building did the Healing Triforce image come into view, confirming it was indeed the sanitarium. Since Malon only had a couple of crates, she wasn't near as exhausted as Link was, who was lifting a much heavier giant wooden box. By the time the duo made it to the front door, the hero had to put the box down in order to catch his breath. Regardless of the brief panting, he made sure to open the door since the farmgirl had her hands full and the doors were heavy. Even though he had to use his tired muscles to pry the doors open, he didn't mind considering it scored him a few points with his girlfriend.

"Thank you." She admired his chivalrous behaviour as she made her way inside. Once she crossed the threshold, the farmgirl announced her presence to whoever was there while still being sure to keep her voice down seeing how it was a place of healing. "Good morning! We have a delivery from Lon Lon Ranch." After putting the crates down on the ground by the door, she held it for Link as he grabbed the wooden box and hauled it inside as well.

"Where should I set this?" He asked the girl.

"Right here." She pointed by the door. "Next to the crates."

Looking around the room, both kids saw that the waiting room was empty. There wasn't a nurse on the other side of the counter that separated the room in half. Seeing this, Link set the box down before walking up to the counter to peer over it, looking to see if anybody was around the corner. When he didn't see anyone, he walked over to the hallway. "Hello?" He asked aloud for anybody nearby to hear. "Is anybody here? We have a delivery." Although he didn't see anybody down the hallway, he did hear muffled talking.

"Do you see anybody?" Malon enquired as she removed a list of items for transactional purposes.

Link shook his head. "No, hold on."

Right as the hero was about to go walking down the hallway, they both heard an audible scream that echoed throughout the confines of the corridor. A normal shout would've startled them, yet this one was bloodcurdling and made their eyes narrow to pinpoints as they felt the shock in their hearts.

"HOLD HIM DOWN!" Dr. Euclid's voice could be heard shouting above the shrill cry.

"I'm trying, Doctor!" An unknown woman's voice responded while sounding as if she was struggling. "He's too strong for me!"

What seemed to be a scuffle could be heard coming from one of the operating rooms before Dr. Euclid hollered out "Gertrude! Help her secure his legs! Strap him down!"

"IT HURTS!" The man who presumably made the initial screech cried out in anguish. "GET IT OUT OF ME!"

"I know, Mr. Clarence! It's almost over, I promise you!" Dr. Euclid replied before yelling to one of the nurses "Get me ether and a health potion, stat! I'll hold his arms while you do."

"Yes, Doctor!" The unknown woman's voice said before revealing herself to be a younger brunette in a white robe as she came out of the operating room to dash across the hallway to the supply room. She could be heard rattling around, likely in a rush as she searched for what the doctor requested. When the rummaging noises stopped, she appeared a short second later. This time, she noticed Link standing there in the hallway. But, seeing how she wasn't able to stop, she just shouted "I'll be with you in a moment, sir!"

When the woman went back into the operating room, Link started walking back over towards Malon as the man proceeded to give a long drawn out scream.

"What do we do?" Malon asked the hero, feeling nervous from what was happening down the hall.

Link just shrugged as he walked up to her and then leaned against the wall. "I guess we'll wait."

The man's screaming proceeded ceaselessly for a solid thirty seconds before abruptly stopping. Both of the kids looked over in the direction of the hallway whenever they heard the doctor say "Good. The ether did its job." He sighed and continued with "I already gave him one dose. He wasn't supposed to wake up before I finished. But, now that he's back under, let's get this tapeworm out of him."

Malon made a face of disgust before giving a single heave. "Did he just say tapeworm?"

Link nodded and chuckled as the farmgirl proceeded to mimic retching.

"That's so gross!" She looked away with a shiver from being revolted at the thought of having a parasitic worm inside her. "I'm glad they're removing it. I just don't want to know how."

"No…" Link sighed with her. "Me either."

Coming outside of the operating room, the nurse who previously ran across the hallway returned. She made her way down the corridor in advance of turning to go into the section separated by the long counter. Coming up to the countertop, she placed her hands atop it as she leaned over. "You'll have to excuse me for that. The goddesses have challenged us with a tough patient today." Although she looked toward the hero since he was who she was talking to, it was Malon who approached to take charge of the situation. Nonetheless, they both got a good look at the young brunette, who had green eyes and freckles with a short cute face. "My name is Sister Pinelopi. How can I help you two children?"

"Yes, hi-..." Malon greeted before once again sharing her reason for their visit. "We have a delivery from Lon Lon Ranch."

The young woman's face lit up when she realized the kids weren't there for anything trivial, but were in fact conducting business. "Oh, why how mature of you both." Peering back at the hallway for any signs of Dr. Euclid finishing the operation, she returned with an unsure expression plastered on her lips. "Hmm… The doctor is busy at the moment." Ducking beneath the countertop, she disappeared to search for something else. "Let me see if I can find an invoice so I can help you out until he's free." More sounds of rummaging ensued as Sister Pinelopi looked around prior to finding a sheet of parchment paper. Upon her return, she placed the paper on the countertop. "Ah. Here we go."

Link suddenly grew curious of something and asked "Is Sister Marrie here today?"

Sister Pinelopi's lips pulled down as she shrugged. "I'm sorry, young man. I don't know of any Sister Marrie. But, I was only recently ordained. Maybe ask Dr. Euclid whenever he has a moment, he might know where she is or if she's here." Dragging her index finger down the list, she stopped in the center and tapped on it. "It says here you're delivering potion ingredients for our medicine?"

"Yes, Ma'am." Malon calmly replied.

Nodding in response, the young white robed woman read off from the paper the list of what was being sold to the sanitarium. "Fifteen dozen Cucco Eggs, two dozen Cucco Livers, ten gallons of Lon Lon Cream, ten gallons of Lon Lon Milk and twenty gallons of butter."

"That's right." Malon confirmed. "Let me get the milk and cream first." Afterward, she went to the corner by the door and lifted the crates she'd been carrying, taking them over to and placing them on the counter top to show the woman the many glass bottles of milk and cream. The bottles rattled a bit when they were set down, but the crate contained them well.

"What do you use these for?" Link asked inquisitively.

"They're ingredients for potions." Sister Pinelopi counted the bottles to make sure there was ten gallons worth of both milk and cream. Although she was ill-informed due to her lack of experience, she proved her medical knowledge by telling the hero "I'm not great at alchemy. However, I'm pretty sure the milk and cucco eggs are used in Poison Antidotes and Sheikah Mega-Vita-Mix Smoothies. There's Lon Lon Cream in Endurance Boost Potions and I know there's Cucco Liver in the Strength Boost Potion. I think our Sleep Aid Potion is basically ninety percent of your ranch's amazing milk."

"Milk, Cream and Cucco for potions?" Link questioned.

Malon giggled at her boyfriend before wondering "What did you think they used it for?"

The boy shrugged and blinked in befuddlement while walking over to the large wooden box in the corner by the door. "I don't know. I thought maybe they were eating and drinking it. I'm so used to kokiri alchemy with their specialized plants, I never considered milk and eggs as medical ingredients."

Sister Pinelopi continued to count the bottles. "Hylian alchemy uses similar ingredients, usually what we can get our hands on through trade or what's grown locally." Just based upon his appearance and what he said about the alchemical system of another race, the holy woman made an assumption regarding the kid. "You must be from the university. Are you taking a course on medicine from different cultures? You're a bit young to be a student, yet I know you're not a kokiri because I've been told they're not allowed to leave their village in the Forbidden Forest."

Link chuckled and then groaned as he pried the top of the box off, revealing several crates of eggs, jars of cucco liver and clay jugs filled with butter, all of which were packed for shipping in multiple layers of hay. "It's an extra-long story. You're right, I'm not a kokiri. Although, I'm not a student either." First thing he did was remove the four crates of eggs, taking them over to the countertop two at a time. "I used to live there, in the village with the kokiri."

"Really?" Sister Pinelopi responded with a hint of skepticism.

The young hero had long since grown accustomed to people's wariness of what he was saying. He didn't bother to acknowledge the healer's lack of belief, instead opting to merely nod and hum in affirmation. On the other hand, he didn't have to deal solely with her as Dr. Eucild soon made an appearance, coming around the corner into the alcove behind the countertop where Sister Pinelopi stood.

Dr. Euclid looked precisely the same as he did the last time they saw each other, choosing to don his heavy leather overcoat and beak mask in belief that the herbs stored within would protect him from the germs and viruses floating about the air or permeating from those who are sick. The only thing that was different was a heavy cotton apron with blood splattered on it from the operation he had just performed. While wiping his hands on a cloth to remove as much blood as possible, he approached the counter to see what was going on. "What do we have here?" His voice and the question were muffled from the mask. "Is it the delivery from Lon Lon Ranch?"

"Yes, doctor." The youthful holy woman informed the man. "I hope you don't mind, I took the liberty of accepting it while you were busy with the patient."

"Not at all..." Dr. Euclid replied. "You did fine. We're in desperate need of cream and eggs, so I'm glad you made sure we didn't miss the delivery."

Prior to removing both clay jugs of butter from the wooden box, Link waved to the doctor to get the man's attention. "Hey there, Dr. Euclid. Good to see you again."

The doctor looked down toward the young hylian child prior to stopping for a moment. Since his facial expressions couldn't be seen from behind his mask, it was hard to tell that he was trying to think of who he was staring at. "Hmm…" He eventually piped up. Before long, the memories clicked enough for the medicine man to recall. "Oh yeah, you were the hylian boy who insisted he lived with the kokiri. How are you doing?"

In response to having both adults dismissing his wild claims, a vein on Link's forehead bulged from frustration. Nonetheless, he still ignored it and proceeded with more small talk as he set down the butter. "I'm doing good, way better than back then. I'm still staying at Lon Lon Ranch and working as a farmhand."

"That's fantastic." Dr. Euclid stated the obvious. "It's hard work, but someone's gotta do it."

Link smiled at the man as he removed the last of the supplies from the wooden box; a glass jar filled to the brim with cucco livers. Oddly enough, he found the doctor wasn't nearly as creepy as he recalled. The best he could figure was that he was merely put off by man's strange clothing and chalked it up to remembering the experience as worse than it actually was. Either way, the boy was glad to be nearly done as he still wanted to get out of the building. Although, he made sure to ask before he forgot "Do you know where Sister Marrie is?"

Tossing the blood covered rag off to the side, Dr. Euclid responded with "She's on leave. Apparently she's having family issues, so it'll be a while before she's back. I'm just grateful to have Sister Pinelopi here to fill in for her or else I'd have been overwhelmed." After that, he picked up two crates of eggs to take them to his supply room, disappearing behind the corner of the hallway.

"Gee… I hope she's alright." Link prayed for the kind woman's well-being.

"Was she one of the sisters who treated you?" Malon inquired as Dr. Euclid came back into the room.

The young hero nodded in confirmation. "Yeah, she was really nice."

Dr. Euclid quickly returned carrying the empty crates from the previous delivery, giving them back so they could be reused for another. Following that, he grabbed the jar of cucco liver and a jug of butter, taking it to the same supply closet just around the corner. In the meantime, Sister Pinelopi took the liberty of assisting more by carrying the last jug of butter. When both adults came back at the same time, all that remained was the cream and milk. They made quick work of stocking it in with the rest of their inventory by sharing the task. In the end, the doctor made sure to return the previous clay jugs and bottles too, all of which were conveniently washed.

Link and Malon occupied themselves as well, alternating together in repacking the empty vessels into the wooden box for transportation. They were careful not to break anything. The crates the farmgirl carried were filled with the empty bottles of both cream and milk. Finally, last but not least, all that was left to be done was to receive payment for their rendered services.

"Okay." Malon cleared her throat as she stared at a piece of paper while Link finished packing behind her. "That'll be one thousand, eight hundred and eighty-six rupees. With your doctor discount, that's five percent off. Plus, your loyal customer discount of seven percent; that takes you down to one thousand, seven hundred and fifty-four rupees."

"Sounds like a good deal considering the economy." Dr. Euclid said in response to the price. Then he pulled out a satchel from within one of the pockets on his thick leather coat. Opening the satchel, he pulled out five golden rupees, one silver rupee, a purple rupee and a blue rupee.

Malon retrieved the currency and proceeded to pocket it in her wallet prior to holding out a single green rupee in return for his blue going a single unit over.

"Thank you very much, Malon." Dr. Euclid showed appreciation with a very slight bow before putting the single green rupee in his satchel. "Tell your father I said hello and that you did a great job. Just be sure to hold onto those rupees; watch for pickpockets."

"Thank you!" Malon beamed a smile at the compliment to her work. "I promise to be careful. Besides, my boyfriend here is as smart as he is strong. He'll scare off anyone who tries to mess with me."

Link pressed his lips together and looked away in embarrassment as he finished packing the wooden box. "Malon…" He bemoaned her need to tell everyone.

"Oh!" Sister Pinelopi gasped in surprise. "You two are together? That's so cute!" Suddenly, her demeanor changed as she displayed a more bubbly attitude in spite of the very serious job she held and the workplace she did it at. "I thought he was related to you."

"What!?" Malon abruptly grew flustered by the woman's absurd assumption. She laughed and rapidly shook her head. "No way! What in the world made you think that?"

The sister shrugged as she stared back-and-forth between the hero and farmgirl. "You two work so well together, I thought you were family." Tapping her fingers to her lips, she redeemed herself by suggesting they have a different compatibility. "I guess what I was picking up on was you two being soulmates?"

Even though the two kids didn't realize it, she was only kidding. Fortunately, neither Link nor Malon could take offense to that as they had actually begun to believe it was a possibility. Their childish sense of love had been intensified enough by their experiences that they wanted it to be true, they wanted to be each other's soulmate. Only time would tell if that was what was fated, nonetheless, it still made the hero and farmgirl glance at one another for a moment. Their adolescence restricted them from fully interpreting the look each held for the other; a look of intense adoration that hid a developing sexual attraction. They knew they were smitten with each other, but still only had a basic view of what their relationship would soon entell whenever they got a bit older.

"Of course we are!" Malon responded in a chipper tone, not batting an eyelash at the thought.

"So cute!" Sister Pinelopi once again complimented the two of them.

Link put the lid back on the wooden box and then lifted the box itself in hopes that showing he was ready to leave would accelerate the conversation enough to actually allow them to do so. He wasn't necessarily too nervous to admit he was her boyfriend, just shy as it wasn't something he'd done very often. "Umm… Thanks…"

Seeing him holding the box, the farmgirl realized they needed to not stay any longer than required since they were on the clock and would have their performance judged by her father later on. So, in order to rescue her boyfriend from being flustered, she said "Oh wait! We should probably get back to our wagon before my dad starts to wonder where we're at." Stowing her full rupee wallet, she grabbed the empty crates from off the countertop. "Have a nice day."

"You too." Dr. Euclid replied.

Sister Pinelopi waved at them with a smile before walking around from the counter to open the door for them. "Here let me get that for you."

'Thank the goddesses.' Link thought while nodding and reciprocating the goodbye with a smile of his own. 'Then again, it doesn't feel as awkward as it used to.' He negotiated with himself. 'Now that she and I are together, it's less odd and more of a compliment whenever people talk about us being a cute couple.' The moment he crossed the threshold of the doorway to the sanitarium, he looked away to pay attention as he began descending the gentle slope leading to and from. 'It's still difficult to acknowledge all these adults actually wanting us to be together. I wonder if it's because I'm a year older than I look? Maybe I'm a little more mature as well?'

Malon, who had been following closely behind, suddenly snickered at everything that happened right as Sister Pinelopi closed the door.

"What?" Link asked, curious about what she found funny.

"You." Malon stuck her tongue out at him even though he was facing away. "I could tell you wanted to get out of there. You're super modest when you're not dealing with Daddy."

The hero couldn't deny it. Though, he had a good reason for being that way. For the most part, Talon was the only person who held sway in their relationship. It was her father's place where he lived and worked. None of the people he met there in Castle Town or anywhere else for that matter was capable of separating him from his beloved red-head the way Talon could. "I do have my reasons." He insisted while adjusting his grip on the wooden box. "What do you want me to be like? Announcing to the world that we're together?" Chuckling a little, he teased her by joking "That's your job and you're doing pretty well at it."

"Hey!" The farmgirl pouted. "Why wouldn't I tell everyone? You're my dream come true."

Her words made the boy's cheeks redden slightly as he felt genuinely honored she thought of him in such a manner. On the other hand, there was another reason other than embarrassment why he didn't want literally everyone to know about them. "Y-Yeah, but you forget that I'm supposed to be lying low."

Malon rolled her eyes as she continued to follow the blonde-headed hylian boy back toward The Market of Castle Town. "I highly doubt Dr. Euclid or any of the sisters will wind up being spies." Nudging him in the back a bit with her crates, she said "Don't worry so much. I mean, unless it's a gerudo, we shouldn't have to worry about them narking on you to Lord Darkmire."

Trying his best to hold back a smirk, he corrected her mistake. "It's Dragmire, not Darkmire."

"Dragmire, darkmire, whatever…" Malon giggled. "Dragmire is actually worse. What does that mean? Did someone drag him through the mire?"

"More like drug him through a pile of crap." Link added.

"Link!" Malon busted out into laughter. "Although, you're probably right since it sounds like he's such a jerk!"

The two kids continued to walk the rest of the way back toward the delivery wagon in silence. Everyone else they passed by was busy doing their own thing and thus paid no attention to them. All they had to do was avoid physically running into anybody again. Thankfully, they did that rather successfully. In a matter of minutes, they had arrived back at The Market. The delivery wagon hadn't moved away from in front of the Happy Mask Salesman's shop. Talon was standing next to it, waiting for them to return while also eating a piece of chocolate cake that had probably been graciously given to him from one of his long-time customers. A few boxes as well as crates were still in the back of the wagon, yet they were likely empty, on their way to be returned for another round of re-use.

Coming closer, Link's mind drifted away from what he was doing and toward Mr. Happy. The hero pondered the possibility that the strange man might have information on Ganondorf that would be beneficial to their cause. He also contemplated how it would be to have a discussion with the odd guy in front of Talon, Malon and even Ingo. Although the Lon Family definitely believed the boy more than they initially did, it was also true that the more people he had vouching for him, the more everyone else had to accept there were too many individuals affected by his questing for him to have been making it up the whole time.

For a split second, he had enough intuition to figure Mr. Happy would have devised another ploy to keep what he knew a secret. Like previously, it would be easy for the magical man to simply hang another sign stating he was away, anything to avoid broaching hidden topics. To Link's surprise, he saw a heavyset middle-aged woman walk right up to the door of the Happy Mask Shop and open it, proceeding to walk inside. Craning his neck to get a better look since he was still a distance away, Link didn't see any signs posted and since somebody just went inside, it was clear the place wasn't closed. All of a sudden, the hero's hope rose above his head, especially since they were going to be right next to the business while reloading the wagon.

By the time they got even closer, Talon spotted them and waved while chewing a mouthful of delicious cake. "Hey!"

"All done!" Malon bubbled.

"Excellen'! Good job, pum'kin'!" Swallowing the last of his treat, he didn't forget about his foster son either. "Same to ya, Link! I'm proud of both ya!"

"Thank you!" Malon and Link both responded at the exact same time.

After wiping his hands on a rag, the heavyset man tossed it into the back of the wagon prior to climbing up into the driver's seat. Turning around, he watched as the kids came up to the back of the wagon. "Now ya know how ta 'andle buisness. It ain't that hard, huh?"

"Nope!" Malon wasted no time in saying. "Since you and auntie made sure I knew my numbers, it's super easy to buy and sell."

Nodding, Link chimed in with "It's pretty much the same for me. I had to buy stuff from the shop in Kokiri Village, so it was imperative to know the value of things as well as make sure I paid the right amount or got the right amount back."

Talon shook his head with a happy smile plastered on his face as all the doubt he had regarding the two slowly melted away. "Well, I'll be… I suppose yer' aunt was right 'bout ya both bein' more mature for yer' age than ya look." He kept smiling out of delight that the two children under his care were so smart and capable of surviving the rough and tough world around them. "Go 'head and load those boxes and crates in the back, then we'll go get a bite ta eat at one of them stalls before we head ta the ranch."

Malon scoffed as she sat her crates down in the back of the wagon in advance of assisting Link in loading the big wooden box by getting up into the back for better leverage. "Yeah right, Dad. We both just saw you munching away on that cake or pie you stuffed in your face. If you keep eating sweets early in the morning like this, you're going to get fat."

"I am fat, hon'." Talon admitted with a smirk. "And ya sound more-and-more like yer' mother every year."

Instead of being bothered by her mother being casually dropped in conversation, the farmgirl proved she had more control over her emotions now as she simply played along perfectly. "Yeah, well that's because she loved you as much as I do. So stop cramming sugar in your belly this early."

"Yes, dear." Talon immediately gave up, likely using the term of endearment he did with his wife.

Link hopped up into the back of the wagon with Malon and proceeded to help her tie down the crates and wooden box. However, he was rather distracted by his desire to yet again speak with Mr. Happy. Now that he was right there in front of the building, he still didn't see any posted signs. Not only that, the place was lit up and he could see movement from within. All these indications led him to believe the Happy Mask Shop was definitely open. Now, he merely had to hope Talon would give him a moment to have a short discussion with the proprietor.

Hopping down from the back of the wagon, the hero slunk over toward the window of the Happy Mask Shop, peering inside. On the other side, he saw five customers being tended to by the always smiling Mr. Happy. To be frank, it was the most business Link had ever seen in the place. Part of him had to wonder why exactly all those people were browsing for masks.

"That masquerade party is going to be amazing, honey." A brown curly-haired man with a white unitard and blue sleeveless lace-up tunic approaching the Happy Mask Shop spoke to a woman walking next to him.

Nodding in agreement, the dark red-headed woman donning a multi-coloured dress stated "Especially since you'll be there, my darling."

The man opened the door to the Happy Mask Shop and held it open for the woman he clearly adored. "We'll have to thank Mr. Jovani Sr. for having a child and throwing this party. It gave us a chance to see each other like this. Let's just hope we can find him with all the masks."

Although he wasn't eavesdropping, hearing about the masquerade party and seeing the two individuals heading inside to join the others in acquiring a mask, Link took a few steps back prior to letting out a long exhale. He knew that metaphorically blew his plan out of the water for a quick discussion with Mr. Happy as the man was definitely occupied dealing with all of his customers. It was a letdown, but not the end of the world as he noticed the elusive Mr. Happy staring at him through the window, giving the boy a friendly wave in advance of returning to assist a man who couldn't decide between two slightly different masks. Just seeing that notion of acknowledgment made him feel as though the odd man had no further plans to hide. Link was confident that, while he couldn't take the time to have an intense discussion, the next time Mr. Happy was free, he would get some more of the answers he wanted.

"Are ya ready, son?" Talon called out to Link.

Clearing his throat, Link waved back at Mr. Happy before turning around to head back over to the wagon. Since the Happy Mask Shop was being swarmed for a masquerade party, he didn't even bother asking for a moment as the wait for every customer to leave would be ridiculous. "Yeah, let's go."

As he climbed into the back, he saw Malon watching him from the driver's seat next to Talon. She waited for him to get closer before she asked. "What were you doing?"

Link waved her off, not bothering to talk about it since it wouldn't do any good. "Nothing. Just looking at all the people getting masks. I guess some rich guy had a baby or something, so he's throwing a party." He climbed over the backrest and then plopped down on the seat next to Malon. "Sounds like fun. I've never been to a masquerade."

Talon whipped the reins to get the horses moving. They trotted slowly and the wagon they pulled moved in a circle around the big refreshing fountain there in the center of The Market. As usual, the moment the wagon budged, one of the nearby guards yelled for everyone to get out of the way. There wasn't a need to worry though as Talon was an amazing driver. He watched and made sure people were out of the way as he replied to Link's previous statement "Oh yeah. I got a letter 'bout it in the post. He's gettin' up there in age, so I'm shocked he 'ad a kid. But, good on em'. He's always wanted an heir to his fortune. Hopefully the kid'll wind up bein' everythin' he imagined."

"See ya, Talon!" A merchant manning a nearby stall shouted as they passed by.

Waving at the customer, Talon started looking around to see what prepared food was being sold at each individual stand. As a farmer with an impeccable palate, he was searching for something delicious while also slightly exotic, something he hadn't tried before. Three-quarters of the way towards the exit of The Market and the beginning of the entry zone where the guard's barracks and drawbridge was, he spotted an older vendor with a sign claiming to have 'Tolemish Food & Wares', indicating he came from Hyrule's southern island territory of Tolemac. "Ooh, what's this? Whatcha' kids think?" He looked at Link and Malon as he pulled on the reins to get the horses to stop. "Wanna try some food from Tolemac?"

"I'm up for it." Link gladly agreed as his tummy rumbled with hunger from all the work he'd recently done.

Malon, however, was skittish towards new food, especially if it wasn't made fresh at the ranch. "Tolemac? Where's that?"

Talon made sure the wagon came to a complete stop in front of the Tolmish stand before informing them "Tolemac is an island to the south. I think it's part of Hyrule. The King rules over it too. I ain't had their food in a while, but from what I remember, it's pretty tropical because of where they are in the sea." Hopping down from the wagon with a thud and a small plume of dust kicked up from the ground, he walked in front, giving pats to the horses as he said "I'll get ya both somethin' good, don't worry. Do ya want somethin' fruity or somethin' savory?"

"Savory." Link and Malon both said in unison before giggling at each other's similar tastes.

Talon gave a thumbs up in recognition in advance of walking towards the stand. "Gotcha."

The owner, an older man in a gray one-piece outfit with short scraggly hair and one eye, smiled, beckoning the overweight farmer over with a warm greeting. "Welcome, welcome. My name is Wenslou. How can I help you today? What are you looking for?" Holding out both arms over his wares, he continued "I have both food and items from the land of Tolemac. Surely there's something here that'll suit your taste."

"What food do you have that's prepared?" Talon enquired. "We're looking for lunch for our ride home."

"I understand." The old man, Wenslou, waved his hand over the section of the table to the left. "I have breads made from exotic grain, the juiciest fruit, homemade snacks and special bread-enclosed meat combos from the coast with a unique flat bread made from flour instead of wheat."

Talon crossed his arms as he pretended to browse. In reality, he had already decided what he was going to get. "The flat bread sounds interesting. What's the meat?"

"Goat." The man said. "It's a mainstay in Tolemac. Everyone eats goat."

"How much for three?" Talon asked.

The old man's blind eye opened to reveal a pure white retina. "Three? Twenty rupees."

Nodding to the price, Talon grabbed his wallet and removed a red rupee. "Sounds good. I'll have three of those."

"Perfect." The old man took the rupee, put it in a metal box and then grabbed three flour flatbread rolls (tortillas), laying them on the stand in front of him. Reaching beneath into a cubby hole, he pulled out a metal cauldron, its contents sloshing around the inside as he placed it up on the stand next to the flatbread rolls. Lifting the lid off the cauldron, the smell of stewed lamb permeated the nearby vicinity as steam escaped as well. Using a ladle, Wenslou scooped two scoops of the meat onto each roll of flatbread. After returning the lid to the cauldron, he put it back under the stand and retrieved another smaller cooking pot. Same as before, when he opened the lid, more scrumptious smells radiated from the inside, this time a scent of a spiced vegetable medley. Adding a single scoop of it to everybody's flatbread. Now that all the ingredients had been placed, he wrapped them all by tucking the ends then rolling the flatbread until the meat was cylindrically encased by it. "Enjoy."

"Thank you very much. It looks amazin'." Grabbing one of them, he immediately took a bite. As soon as the flavours hit his taste buds, the farmer moaned in pleasure. "And tastes amazin' too." He spoke with his mouth full, not caring in the least.

The old man smiled wider, showing what few teeth he had left in his head. "Come back anytime."

Grabbing the other flatbread wraps, Talon brought them over to the wagon, where he handed them to Link and Malon. Once they got theirs, he took another bite as he walked around to once again climb up into the steering seat. "Ya gotta try it. It's delicious." He admired the Tolemish cooking. "The mixture of red and green spices on the vegetables mixes perfectly with the seasoning on the meat."

Link was first to take a bite out of his respective wrap, immediately enjoying the flavours gracing his palate. "Mmm… Oh man, you're right." Savoring it, he closed his eyes and chewed.

Seeing that her boyfriend enjoyed the flavours so much, Malon took a small bite, just big enough to taste all the ingredients. Same as them, she found it delicious. Before their wagon had even moved away from the spot, she took several more chomps out of the wrap. "Oh my goodness…" She moaned as she relished the spices and stewed meat wrapped in a thin flour flatbread. "Wow, it really is scrumptious."

"Told ya." Talon poked as he whipped the reins to get the horses moving.

"Thank you, Mr. Talon." Link showed gratitude for the man buying his lunch.

The heavyset farmer held onto the reins with one hand while stuffing the wrap in his mouth with the other hand. "No problem, son. Thank you for doin' such a good job, you and Malon both."

Malon and Link both continued to eat their flour flatbread lamb wrap as Talon slowly steered the wagon through the rest of The Marketplace, still being sure to avoid running into anyone. A few of the town guards did their usual shouting to ensure people got out of the way, so it only took a minute for the group to get to the entry zone. Passing the defensive curtain wall surrounding the market, they went through it as a town guardsman patrolled on the parapet walkway above. Coming into the lower bailey where the barracks was, one of the soldiers out front waved them all on as the guard at the gatehouse kept the drawbridge open for the wagon to cross.

Going over the drawbridge made the entire wagon rattle as the wheels clacked against the wood and metal fasteners. The boxes in the back made a thud as the group successfully crossed the moat and rode onto the dirt path of Hyrule Field. It was still fairly early, almost noon. So, the sun was bright at its highest of the day.

Looking around, although the sounds of civilization could be heard from Castle Town and Kakariko Village, there didn't appear to be anybody else in the vicinity. Without anybody else on the road, Talon whipped the reins to get the horses moving even faster. As they rode, they all munched on their lunch, continuing to enjoy the exotic taste of Tolmish cuisine. Malon leaned against Link and gently kicked her feet as she hummed while eating. The hero laid his head by hers as he did the same; except, the smell of her hair began to gradually override the hunger he was experiencing. Suddenly, he was more attracted to the smell of gerudo soap and thyme than the spices of wrapped lamb on flatbread. Seeing how her father was on the other side, he merely took another bite before delicately draping his arm across her shoulders.

'This isn't how I thought my life would turn out.' Link mentally remarked as he took the next-to-last bite of his lunch. Gazing down at the farmgirl, he saw that she was looking up at him and it made him bashfully smile. 'It's way better.'

"I'm so tired." Talon blurted out without realizing the two kids were having a moment.

"You're always tired." Malon wasted no time in saying

The heavyweight farmer chuckled prior to informing his daughter "I do stay up late."

Link chewed and swallowed his lunch. "You know, I noticed that. You're usually the last one up. What are you doing so late at night?"

"Lots of stuff." Talon admitted as he licked his lips from relishing the taste of the lamb wrap. "I prepare food for the next day, write out new recipes, whittle and make sure no wild animals get into the cucco pen."

The boy nodded in acknowledgement before growing curious. "How can wildlife possibly get in with the walls and giant gate? Aren't the cuccos basically safer in Lon Lon Ranch than anywhere else?"

Talon scoffed at the tenacity of hungry animals. "Mostly. But, if they're smart or ain't had no food, then Foxes, Hodags and Bears will get in if they try their hardest and refuse to give up…" Exhaling, he suddenly relented. "Yer' right though. I suppose I just like goin' on night walks 'round the ranch. It's peaceful."

Turning right onto the main road leading through Hyrule Field, the trio chatted with each other about random things for the next five minutes, just long enough for them to reach the edge of Castle Town's exterior parallel to them. Lon Lon Ranch could be seen from up on its hill, but remained an hour ride away. Shortly after that, both Malon and Link had polished off the rest of their Tolemish lunch. They laughed together at a few of Talon's jokes, tried to get comfy on the wooden seat as they were jostled around and cuddled against one another.

Link happened to glance back at Castle Town whenever he saw a carriage and two wagons hastily making their way down the same road he and his group were currently on. Because of the sheer high-speed from the unknown individuals, he kept his eye on the three for a moment. The carriage in the lead made an abrupt turn toward Castle Town that was so fast the velocity nearly caused it to tip over. Whoever was driving it could be seen frantically whipping the reins to get his horses moving as quickly as possible so they could get to the drawbridge. Local guards atop the barbican and curtain wall parapets were seemingly alarmed, several of which took aim at the two wagons with bow and arrow. At first glance, the wagons were chasing the carriage; however, this proved false as the sprinting horses kept the unknown group moving past the road that led into town. In fact, they appeared to move even faster down the pathway Talon's delivery wagon was on.

"What's this?" The hero verbally noted.

"Hrmm?" Talon inquired before noticing where Link was looking. Glancing back, he too saw both suspicious wagons doing their best at gaining speed. "Oh-..." Watching as they continued to catch up, the farmer grew further concerned. Nonetheless, he was rather reluctant to admit how apprehensive he was regarding the unknown party's furious pace. "Maybe we oughta' pull off ta side and let 'em pass; just in case they're in a rush 'cause it's a 'mergency."

Link shook his head in advance of voicing his opinion. "I don't know. A second ago it looked like they were chasing a carriage." He didn't want to upset or scare Malon, but knew he had to be realistic about the situation. "You don't think they could be bandits, do you?"

Talon let out a hearty chuckle, refusing to so much as contemplate the possibility. "Bandits? 'Ere, on this road, in the middle of the day? No way."

In spite of the heavyset farmer not wanting to admit the oddness of the situation, within the next few minutes, the two wagons were closing in and already halfway to them. None of the individuals riding could be seen well enough to discern details of their appearances. Then again, they were near enough for Link to see that there were about seven to ten of them, more than usual to travel by wagon like they were. A gut feeling made the hero's instincts activate, causing him to ascertain what equipment he currently had to fight with should the need arise. He had gotten used to being a farmhand, thus had grown accustomed to no longer carrying around all the items he'd acquired during his adventuring. Thankfully, his skills and knowledge made sure he was never defenseless. He had his upgraded kokiri sword on his person, plus his Hylian Shield and fairy bow was in a storage compartment behind the driver's seat.

"They're coming at us really fast." Malon stated, now becoming deeply concerned.

"I'm gonna pull off to the side of the road." Talon replied.

Link reached across Malon to stop her father from pulling back on the reins. "No, don't. Keep going." Under normal circumstances, the boy wouldn't dare try to assume control over the delivery wagon, especially by grabbing the reins like he did. On the other hand, he was rather positive this wasn't a regular situation. 'It's my job to protect this family-...' He quickly thought prior to correcting himself. 'To protect 'MY' family. I swore to protect Malon and that's what I'm going to do.'

"What are ya' doin', boy?!" Talon exclaimed as Link commandeered the wagon reins and whipped faster.

"Getting us away from these people! There's something not right about them!" Link responded while glancing back, witnessing one of the sketchy individuals stand up from their seat to point at him and the Lons. 'I knew it.' He silently confirmed the pursuing groups nefarious intent as he got the horses moving as fast as they possibly could. "If we stop, they'll have us surrounded!"

Malon started freaking out now, turning around in her seat to stare at the unknown group closing the gap on them. "What do they want?! Our rupees?!"

"How do ya know they're bad?!" Talon questioned Link's awareness. "What if they're just tryin' to get somewhere in a hurry?! Now, give me back those reins boy, before I wring yer' neck!"

Without even getting a chance for the hero to respond to Talon's request, they heard one of the men from the pursuing group shout at the top of his lungs. "THAT'S THEM! GET 'EM!"

"See?!" Link pointed out. "I knew they were marauders!" Now that it was obvious that the people chasing them were bad, the boy tossed the reins back over toward Talon, allowing the big man to resume control of driving. In the meantime, the hero stood up and began climbing over his seat in order to reach the back. He had to be careful standing up seeing how they were traveling as fast as they were. Regardless, he wasted no time in finding the storage compartment where his fairy bow was located. Pulling open the compartment, he retrieved his bow and shield in advance of immediately nocking an arrow on the bowstring. Analyzing his ammunition supply, he had to be sure of his shots due to only having around a dozen remaining.

Malon shivered in fright as she scooched over to huddle next to her father. "Link! What are you doing!?"

"What I do best." Link calmly replied as he cautiously navigated to the tail section of the wagon, thereafter ducking down for defensive cover beneath the wood it was constructed out of. Poking his head up just enough to take in the current scene, now that the pursuing bandits were a mere hundred feet back, the hero could make out several of their features. All four individuals in the first wagon looked like ruffians and ner-do-wells out for themselves. The confident look on their aggressive faces told the boy they definitely intended to raid them of their recently acquired hard earned wealth. Unfortunately, he still couldn't figure out how they knew the delivery wagon's schedule, how they knew the Lons were outside the protection of Castle Town.

'Alright you bastards. Let's see how you like this.' After choosing a target, the boy swiftly sprung up above his cover with the bowstring pulled at the ready. He gave the pursuing group no chance to register his intentions prior to letting go, watching as his arrow flew through the air in advance of puncturing one of the bandit's left shoulder.

The bad guy hollered out in agony as he held onto the shaft of the arrow, debating on whether or not to make an attempt at yanking it out. "SON OF A BITCH!"

"HE'S ARMED!" A marauder sitting next to his injured friend announced to his fellow comrades. "WATCH FOR ARROWS!"

Most of the group, in spite of having a heads up and brief moment to prepare, remained utterly defenseless to any of Link's ranged attacks. Only three of them, one up front and two in the back held up shields capable of blocking the arrows. Although the majority weren't able to defend, they could still assault and chose to do so by nocking arrows of their own. Two of them took aim at the delivery wagon itself while another two directed their bows at the Hero of Time himself.

"Dammit..." Link cursed under his breath as he quickly reloaded. "MALON, TALON!" He shouted back toward the two. "INCOMING ARROWS!" While he warned them, he wasn't entirely sure what either of them could do other than seek shelter behind the wood like he was. "DUCK!"

Both Talon and Malon listened and without delay ducked for cover as two arrows impacted the rear of the driver seat's wooden backrest. Two more soared through the air toward Link, one hit the tail end while the second breached the back and landed inside the wagon bed. The young boy peered over the rear only to be nearly stricken by an additional arrow launched by one of the men holding a shield. Creating a strategy, he considered his enemies strength. Including whatever melee weapons they carried, they had three shields along with five bows with arrows. Only one of them was injured.

Thinking of which bandit to take out next, he settled on the one sitting up front next to the guy's injured partner. Using the time it took the marauders to re-nock their bows, Link shot up above the wagon's cover in order to aim and release another arrow directly at his target. 'Guide my arrow, Nayru.' Link pleaded to the goddess as he watched his arrow hit the bad guy in the throat, almost dead center of the trachea. Instead of celebrating, he continued to pray for the safety of his loved ones. 'Don't let my family get hurt by these maniacs.'

While the hero remained calm, the man with an arrow in his throat had a face of sheer horror as he tried gasping for a gurgled breath, senselessly clawing at his fatal injury. The bandit's partner, even while having an arrow in his own shoulder, tried to help until he saw it was useless. From the blood pouring into his lungs, the marauder soon choked to death on his own vital fluids, slumping over in his seat.

It would appear comradery only meant so much amongst the highwaymen as the others soon decided to jettison their dead weight in favour of increased speed. Since the dead guy's partner couldn't do it on his own due to the arrow which continued to protrude from his shoulder, the man with the shield on the other side wasted no time in grabbing and slinging the freshly made corpse off to the side of their wagon so their following friends wouldn't hit it.

Link took a split second to contemplate whether or not to hit their horse with an arrow. Yet, as an animal lover himself in addition to his girlfriend's fondness of them, he swiftly rejected the idea, holding onto it for a last resort. Either way, he couldn't take immediate action as he was once again forced to duck for cover. Another series of arrows from the bandits impacted the wagon. This time, one got much closer to the front, nearly clearing the backrest of the driver's seat.

"THEY'RE GOING TO KILL US!" Malon exclaimed in terror, fearing for her life.

"The hell they will!" Link responded as he stood up from cover to release another arrow. Unfortunately, the arrow hit the bandit's shield, sticking into the wood with a heavy thud.

Whipping the reins faster, Talon's eyes were as wide as dinner plates. All that ran through his mind was the protection of his daughter. While he certainly worried for his own life, he feared more than anything that one of those arrows would successfully breach the driver's seat and potentially kill his beloved child. He was trying hard to stay calm in the face of danger. "By the Goddesses, I ain't ever been through somethin' like this in all my years out here! Bandits on the mainroad! What has this world become!?"

"Focus on steering!" Link demanded, trying to keep the hefty farmer grounded in reality. He ducked again while re-nocking another arrow.

Malon stayed low as she asked "How many of them are there?!"

Having already counted, the hero said "Seven I think, minus one. So, six of them." With the next arrow ready, he started thinking ahead, wondering what his options would be if they were forced to come to a stop. They couldn't keep running forever. Even if they made it to the ranch, they'd have to stop in order to open the gate before being able to seek shelter inside. 'I don't know what we're going to do. There's no way I'll be able to kill all these bandits before they reach Lon Lon Ranch.' He also knew how dangerous the current game of dodge and attack he was playing with them actually was. Depending on how many arrows the enemy had remaining, it could be only a matter of time before one of his loved ones got hurt. "We need to divert."

Another set of arrows hit the wagon. Due to the injured marauder's failure to fully pull his bow back, one shot missed altogether, landing on the ground off to the side.

"Don't go to the ranch!" Link commanded Talon, hoping the man wouldn't argue. "Keep going! If we stop to open the gate, they'll have us backed into a corner!"

"Where am I supposed to go!?" Talon asked with a wavering voice.

Peeking over the cover of the tailend, the young boy spotted a perfect opportunity to retaliate. One of the men up front with a shield began reloading his bow. Link took the chance to target him while he was too occupied, releasing an arrow in his direction. The bandit happened to see what was happening right as the kid let go of the bowstring, making the man try to raise his shield. Luckily for the hero, the highway crook didn't have enough time nor were the goddesses on his side, for the arrow got him with an impressive centered shot to the forehead.

"Anywhere!" Link replied to Talon's question. "Just don't stop the wagon or we're in trouble!"

Same as before, the two remaining marauders removed the deadweight so the horses could go faster. It took them longer to dispose of the corpse as the man with the wounded shoulder still had trouble moving heavy objects. Then again, that same guy found himself now able to better defend himself as he took his comrades shield. "YOU SON OF A BITCH!" He screamed at Link for having taken out two of them. "WE'RE GOING TO KILL YOU AND THAT FAMILY OF YOURS!"

"Din, give me strength." Link prayed aloud prior to nocking another arrow. After counting out seven remaining arrows, he glanced around at his location, seeing that they were just about to pass the path that led to Lon Lon Ranch. "Farore, forgive me for taking the lives of these fools." Deep down in his soul, the champion felt sorrow for having to extinguish the lives of his fellow hylians or even other sapient races. Nonetheless, he knew he couldn't hold back.

The enemy certainly wasn't holding back, even after noticing they were pursuing two children. As a matter of fact, they were fully intent on committing the crime of pedicide. The final remaining marauder up front with enough strength to properly use the bow took aim and shot at the wagon, scoring another impact against the rear of the driver's seat. Coincidentally, the arrow hit the seam between two wooden boards, allowing it further penetration than the others achieved, going far enough to pierce through to the otherside.

"OWWWW!" Malon screamed and cried at the same time as the tip of the arrow sliced across the top of her left hand.

"MALON!?" Link and Talon shouted in unison.

"THEY GOT MY HAND!" She blubbered as blood began pouring from her sliced flesh. "THEY GOT MY HAND!" The injury wasn't life threatening by any means, yet scared goosebumps onto the young farm girl as her fear of the pursuing bandits increased tenfold. "I DON'T WANT US TO DIE FROM THESE JERKS!

Talon continued to stay beneath the driver's seat, but crawled over to his daughter to grab her arm, examining her hand as she held onto it to stop the bleed. "I got ya, Pum'kin! I got ya!"

Link's jaw clenched hard as anger began coursing through him. He tried to stay calm, to not let emotional fog cloud his judgment. The last thing he needed to do was get upset and lose concentration. "I won't let them kill you, they won't kill any of us!" He added in to comfort his beloved in advance of targeting the wounded marauder, intending to use the man's weakness as an opportunity to eliminate one more enemy. "I'll kill them. I'll kill all of them if I have to!" Taking aim, he released the bowstring, letting the air fly toward the hurting bandit.

"NO!" The bandit shouted as he raised the shield just in time to avoid being killed like his other two comrades. Link's arrow hit the wooden shield, being securely captured without damaging the bad man. After seeing that he was safe, the man belittled the hero's failure. "NICE TRY, YOU LITTLE SHIT! WE'RE COMING FOR YOU!"

Yet again, Link contemplated whether or not to strike the horses of the pursuing bandits. He knew he had to decide soon as his ammunition supply was wearing thin. The boy grumbled under his breath as he wanted to see the chase end sooner rather than later, knowing a well placed shot to a horse could potentially flip the entire carriage if the carriage itself hit the creature's body. Still, he didn't have it in him to hurt an innocent animal, no matter how much easier it would make the situation. Instead, he decided to do something else that might achieve similar results. Crouching beneath the safety of the wagon, he waddled over to one of the crates as the enemy's arrows hit the rear end. Grabbing onto the crate, he cut the rope restraints and lifted it as best he could from his crouched posture, carrying it toward the back where he previously was.

'Lets see if this can slow them down.' The hero strategized in advance of lifting and launching the empty crate over the back, watching as it hit the ground and rolled a few additional feet toward the bandits wagon.

"WHY YOU LITTLE-...!" The other marauder complained as he had to take evasive action, pulling the reins off to the side in order to avoid having the horses trample the crate and potentially trip over it. In the blink of an eye, the horses obeyed the command and veered off to the side, avoiding the crate, but also causing the wagon to come to a near stop. "I'LL GET YOU!" His voice grew further and further away as the distance between them increased.

Unfortunately, there was another whole wagon full of people to deal with directly behind where the first carriage initially was. This wagon suddenly began gaining on the Lon Lon's delivery wagon faster than the first as its driver could be seen ferociously whipping the reins to get the horses sprinting to their limit. Now that the first wagon was out of the way, the second was free to unleash a fresh barrage of arrows as well.

'I better try the same thing.' The young boy pondered as he looked at his dwindling ammunition. 'There's not enough arrows left for me to kill the rest of them.' Swiftly glancing around at their location, he saw that they had passed the path leading to Lon Lon Ranch and were currently heading in the direction of Gerudo Valley. Knowing that they didn't need to be anywhere near the Geldo Region, he worried that they simply wouldn't have the necessary time to combat the marauders chasing them before they reached the valley. If such a thing did happen, the best he could do was hope for assistance from the Gerudo Women's hostility toward men, especially highwaymen. 'I pray it doesn't come to that.'

Retrieving another crate from the wagon bed, Link attempted to do the same thing to the second wagon that was in hot pursuit of them, tossing it onto the road behind him. This time was different as the assailants managed to utterly avoid the obstacle and continue onward with the chase. "Dammit!" He cursed while nocking another arrow, preparing to target one of the bad men. 'What am I going to do?' Taking aim, he released a shot at the guy sitting defenseless in the center, yet missed as it impacted the wood of the driver's seat a mere inch from the side of his torso. 'No…' Link lamented the miss. 'No, no, no… This isn't good.'

Ducking to avoid their retaliation, he returned to the wagon bed and tried to find another suitable box for throwing at the crooks. To his dismay, by the time he found one and returned, he saw that the enemy wagon was just twenty feet back and had chosen to move off the center of the road, riding on the side to avoid making it so easy for the boy to throw stuff at them. The men were close enough to target more accurately with ranged weaponry, doing exactly that as they started trying harder to take out Talon, knowing that by doing so would cause the horses to eventually come to a stop unless Link or Malon took over. Seeing their intentions, the hero still launched the box at them, succeeding in whacking one of the horses in the head with it.

The box broke on the horse as it neighed in displeasure from the foreign object. Momentarily slowing down, it tried to back off before the marauders whipped the reins enough to convince it otherwise. Although the boy hoped for more, it was only a slight inconvenience as the buggy continued to once again gain on the trio.

"STOP THROWING SHIT, YOU LITTLE TURD!" One of the bandits yelled.

Watching the wagon get closer and closer, Link soon shifted strategies by deciding to use the last of his arrows. It was all he could do until they got close enough for him to move on to the next part of his new idea. In the meantime, he took aim, using one of his five remaining arrows to target one of them. Releasing the bowstring, without delay, the arrow soared through the air in advance of impacting one of the marauders in the arm. It wasn't a killshot, but at least hit one of them and made them weaker as a unit.

"GHAAA! FUCK, THAT HURTS LIKE A MOTHERFUC-...!" The injured bandit exclaimed as he bit down on the leather of his glove while breaking off the shaft as close to the hilt as he could get it, making it easier to maneuver in spite of still having an arrowhead and three inches of wood poked into his forearm.

"How is this little bastard doing this!?" Another neerdowell loudly voiced his opinion. "What kind of kid can take out a convoy of grown men!?"

"Shut up! He's not going to take us out!" One more guy replied. "We're going to get him and split the reward! Besides, less of us means more money for each!"

Intending to do as they said, they managed to increase speed just enough to further gain on the delivery wagon. Within a matter of moments, the enemy carriage was less than ten feet away. The Hero of Time wanted to go get another crate or nock another arrow, but his time had run out. Before he could react to the closed gap in their distance, he bore witness as the criminals started riding up the side of the delivery wagon, moving fast enough to begin completely outpacing the Lon Lon horses. In addition, thanks to their new angle, they were able to take aim at the green clothed boy at a much closer range. Link barely had time to duck as the group shot a barrage of arrows at him. One of the arrows penetrated the side of the Lon Lon delivery wagon, the tip narrowly avoiding the champion's head.

"GET THE DRIVER!" A bandit demanded. "KILL THAT FUCKER AND THE HORSES!"

Knowing that it was time to change to the next part of his plan, Link made haste in order to not miss a very short window of opportunity. The young hero holstered his bow, forsaking what arrows remained in favour of his trusty Upgraded Kokiri Sword and reliable Hylian Shield. With no time to get hyped, he backed up against the end of the wagon furthest from the enemy prior to dashing directly at them, jumping up and using the edge to propel himself in one great leap across the gap between the two wagons. It was a rough landing, but he made it into the bed of the enemy buggy, right behind the four remaining assailants.

"WHAT THE HELL!?" One of them exclaimed in shock that the child they were attacking had gone on the offensive.

Link immediately lunged at the enemy driver, hoping to commandeer or at least confuse the pursuing horses instead of having to kill them. With a bash of the shield straight to the back of the driver's head, the bandit didn't have time to react as at the time he was trying to focus on steering. Stunning the man, the hero was then able to grab the reins and yank them to the right, temporarily causing the horses to veer off to the left before he was stopped by the driver and other men.

"LINK!" Malon screamed once she noticed he wasn't even in their wagon anymore. "BE CAREFUL!"

'Always, my love.' He thought without hesitation even though he had to jump backward right that moment in order to avoid being stabbed by one of the marauders' shortswords.

In the enemy's wagon bed, two of the bandits hopped over the backrest to the driver's seat, one with the broken arrow and the other fresh as could be. "You screwed up now, boy!" The hurt guy gloated as if he thought he was capable of killing the kid that had so far completely blown whatever plans they had out of the water. Either way, the ruffians protected the driver as he got the wagon back on track.

"Once we kill you, we're gonna kill the fat man and his little girl too!" The other spat.

Stupidly infuriating the youngster, it almost cost the bandit his life right there and then as Link made a swipe with his sword, just grazing the man's throat with the tip of his blade. "Shut up." The young hero calmly replied, keeping his composure and not letting them know their verbal abuse bothered him.

The bandit talking the crap held his throat with eyes-wide, only to find he was still alive due to his reflexes making him jolt back just enough to avoid a fatal cut to the jugular. "You… PIECE OF SHIT! DIE!" He hollered the last word with a blood-curdling voice.

All of a sudden, the champion found himself in a sword fight with two grown men that towered over him. He'd fought fellow humans and hylians before, but it still upset him, putting strain on his soul. He'd trained with Captain Osun and kicked Visente's ass a number of times while sparring, yet this was live combat. The most he could do to equate this to another battle was perhaps a Stalfos, the undead skeletons of his kind brought to life by black magic. He knew that wasn't totally the same either though. He knew he wasn't fighting undead monsters, rather he was forced to fight living people who likely had families of their own. Still, he had no choice as they were making him protect his family from them.

"Come here!" The fresh marauder demanded as he hustled toward the boy with his sword and shield at the ready.

Having a shortsword thrusted down upon him like it were a kitchen knife, the hero deflected the assault by slinging it away with his own blade. In the split second that the bandit was defenseless, the champion rammed him in the stomach with the Hylian Shield and kicked him back into a stumble. Before he knew it though, Link was attacked by the injured guy, who used his sword to take a horizontal slice at the kid. Running on instinct, Link ducked and hacked at the guy's shin, causing the man to scream out as the boy's sword went down to the bone. The hero was just about to stab the man's femoral whenever he found himself tackled to the wagon bed by the fresh marauder.

"Get me closer!" The man riding up front with the driver demanded, clearly intending to hurt Talon or Malon.

'I need to do something!' Link shouted in his own head, desperate to finish fighting so he could rescue his family from harm's way.

The man on top of him tried to hold the boy's sword arm down, yet was stopped whenever the boy gave the guy a wicked headbutt and then a powerful kick to the crotch. This brought a complete halt to the bandit as he nearly vomited from the pain of having his testicles smashed by a kokiri boot. Pushing the crook off of him, Link rolled out of the way and got back up just in time as the injured marauder was about to kick him in the side of the head. The lacerated and punctured bandit tried to stab at the boy, but missed, only to have the champion nearly retaliate with a deathblow, hoping to thrust his kokiri sword upward through the underside of the guy's jaw. However, the crotch-kicked criminal grabbed Link's ankle and almost knocked the kid off his feet, barely managing to once again save his comrade.

Link wasn't pleased with that and he took it out on the ball-busted man by stabbing him in the hand and slicing his cheek, fully intending to have cut deeper were it not for the other wounded man pushing the kid toward the edge of the wagon. The hero almost went over the side, barely catching himself in advance of jumping back into the fight.

They were tougher than he thought they would be and because of that he found himself unable to reach the driver again before the wagon had reached an angle for the other bandit riding up front to have a clear shot at Talon and Malon.

To his utter surprise, the bad man bore witness as a pitchfork came jutting its way across the gap between wagons, four prongs stabbing into the jerk that wanted to kill a father and his child, sticking him right in the ribcage. He gasped and stared at his likely fatal injury for a moment before glancing over at Talon, who had a look on his face that said he was scared, yet determined to protect his child. Without giving the criminal a chance to do anything, the heavyset farmer rammed the pitchfork even deeper into the man's flesh in advance of literally lifting him up out of the wagon seat like a slab of meat dangling from a hook.

"OH MY G-GODDESS!" The bandit gurgled a cry, bleeding from his nose and mouth as he was slung out of the wagon, rolling off the side of the road to die in the ditch with a pitchfork stuck in his guts.

"By Din!" The crooked driver exclaimed in shock from having his friend torn out of the wagon in such horrible fashion. "That's it! I'll do this myself if I have to!" He confirmed as he grabbed his comrade's bow and started to nock the only arrow left up front. "Take this, you fat motherfucker!"

"NO!" Link saw what was about to happen and took hold of his sword, cracking the injured bandit in the head with the pommel before jumping off the back of the crouched marauder who was still holding his sore crotch. Landing behind the driver's seat, the hero quickly dropped his Hylian Shield, wrapped that arm around the man's throat, pulled him across the backrest of the driver's seat and proceeded to stab him in the chest over and over to prevent him from hurting Talon or Malon. "YOU WON'T HURT ANYBODY EVER AGAIN!"

The driver's eyes quivered, expanding and contracting as his body swiftly shut down from being stabbed in the torso almost ten times. Unable to fight back, he went limp and dropped the bow and arrow, dying without saying another word.

Link's success was quickly cut short as he felt the sensation of cold steel stabbing into his lower back. "UGHHH!" He winced in agony prior to reaching back and grabbing the man's head. With teeth clenched tight, the hero pushed his thumbs into the bandit's eye sockets as hard as he could, waiting for the guy to let out a blood-curdling scream before returning to the driver's corpse to retrieve his partially stuck kokiri sword.

"LINK!" Malon cried in terror as she witnessed her lover getting physically stabbed in the back. "FARORE, SAVE HIM!" She prayed for assistance from a higher power. "DON'T LET THESE PEOPLE HURT HIM! HE'S TOO IMPORTANT!"

Having recovered his Upgraded Kokiri Sword, Link swung upward, cutting into the stomach of the man with an arrow in his shoulder. Immediately after, he also swung upward horizontally to slit the adult's throat. This time, the attack worked and the tip of the blade went deep enough to sever the bandit's trachea. Like they always do, the dying assailant grabbed at his throat; his tongue muscle protruded abnormally far from his mouth from desperately trying to gasp. But, Link wasn't interested in watching the crook suffer and merely kicked him toward the rear of the wagon, hearing the man's body slam against the tailend with a loud thud that also bounced the entire frame of the buggy. The boy's back hurt from the stab, yet he couldn't pay any attention to it as he still had to take down one more bad guy.

Before anyone could do anything else, the two wagons started bumping up against each other. Talon tried to regain control, but his horses became spooked upon the proximity of strange horses they'd never encountered before. Like panicking animals, they all started freaking out more than they should have and it caused them to crash against each other, nearly tripping over one another's lanky galloping legs.

"NO, DON'T!" Talon shouted, referring to the horse's panic as he attempted to regain control by yanking the reins to the left.

To all their dismay, one of the horses tripped and caused all the other equines to come crashing down to the ground. The momentum of the wagon continued despite the living engines having stopped, causing them to collide with the horses and thus fly up into the air a few feet prior to tipping over. Both wagons wrecked. A wheel to the Lon Lon buggy busted upon return to the ground. Due to the sheer suddenness of it all, the last bandit happened to latch onto Link, making the two fall to the dirt outside the wagon bed, sliding several feet amongst the dirt. Talon was ejected from his driver's seat, landing a good fifteen feet from the wipeout. Malon slammed against the front of the wagon, but otherwise remained inside of it, simply hanging onto the wood frame for a moment before also falling to the ground. The pinned horses could be heard winneying for help as the weight of the carriages kept them pressed to the ground.

"DADDY!" Malon cried while gasping in pain. She held onto her side as she got up and limped over to him, glancing back several times as she watched Link and the bandit resume their fight. "DADDY! DADDY! ARE YOU ALRIGHT!?" Even though she was scared for the safety of her lover, she knew Link had the skills to protect himself. Her father, on the other hand, was hefty and just flew through the air like a marshmallow in the wind. Ignoring the pain in her right side as well as right leg, the farmgirl was terrified her father wasn't capable of surviving such a sudden impact. "SPEAK TO ME!"

Talon groaned and coughed, squirming on the ground where he lay. "Get outta 'ere, Malon! Run!" He continued to fear for his daughter's life over his own.

Just hearing his voice was a relief. The redhead girl was grateful to the goddesses for protecting her father. "By the goddesses, Daddy!" Was all she could muster to say when she proceeded to come upon and kneel by the hurt farmer.

"What are ya doin'!?" Talon inquired with panic in his voice. "Leave me. Run! I don't want ya gettin' hurt by these maniacs!"

Malon shook her head as she pointed over at Link, who had freed himself from the grasps of the bandit and was in the process of bare knuckle punching the final marauder in the face, giving him an uppercut in the stomach and a knee to the ribs too. "Don't worry, Daddy. Link's got it under control." Her relief was short lived however, as she recalled the physical stab to the back her boyfriend had received from the bad guys. Abrupt concern proliferated her mind, yet she still worried her father couldn't move. "Can you get up?"

"I think so…" Talon replied as he gradually leaned up while rubbing his sore head. "Everythin' just hurts. I don't think I ever flew in the air like that… or hit the ground like that either."

Seeing the farmer come to his feet, the farmgirl did the same, intending to help the man steady himself. "We have to get back to Castle Town, to the Sanitarium. Link needs a doctor."

"LOOK AT WHAT YOU DID!" The surviving marauder demanded Link be held accountable for ruining their group's grand plan. "YOU KILLED ALL OF THEM, ALL BUT ME!" Shaking his head, a smirk came to the crazy man's face. Before long, he let out a chuckle. "I don't know who the fuck you are kid, or why we were hired to find you, but I'm not going to let the lives of my entire gang go in vain because you pissed off the gerudo and refuse to take your beatings like a man! I'm not going to die so easily!"

Link narrowed his eyes as he recovered his sword and shield. He wasn't completely sure he understood what the guy meant by what was said, although he now had a decent gut feeling Ganondorf was behind this. Nonetheless, the hero kept his vision locked on the bandit, who had also found and re-equipped his sword as well as another found nearby, dual-wielding two blades. From Link's perspective, the highwayman was correct about not going down as easily as his friends. The marauder seemed better trained, being in a proper stance for the weaponry he was using.

"I'LL FINISH WHAT THEY STARTED!" The crook exclaimed as he made a mad dash forward toward the young hero, thrusting his left sword forward in hopes of breaking the boy's defense.

The bandit should have known that Link wouldn't be caught off guard in any way, shape or form, especially after having previously been proven how skilled the boy was. After simply using his shield to block the weak attempt at a stab, Link retaliated with a chop. Since the bandit was so much bigger than Link, all he had to do was parry the chop, holding his sword sideways in advance of using the momentum to his advantage immediately thereafter, coming back with a diagonal slice. The boy barely dodged by leaning far enough back for the slice to miss. Hitting away the enemy sword with the Hylian Shield, Link took the opportunity to perform a bash, slamming the metal against the man's torso. The marauder hit back with a kick to the hero's chest, sending the short statured child ramming back against the tipped wagon.

"YOU'RE NOT GOING TO KILL ME LIKE YOU DID THEM!" The man shouted before running at the champion, stabbing forth one sword while making a hacking motion with the other.

"Do you ever shut up?" Link taunted with a wee bit of actual desire. He was genuinely surprised to be having such trouble with the crazed crook. Not only did he have to duck in order to avoid having his head sliced off, he had to strafe to avoid getting stabbed. As a stroke of luck, the enemy's failed stab got the sword caught in the wood of the tipped wagon. "You're good, but not as good as you think you are."

Seizing the chance, Link slammed the pommel of his kokiri sword down upon the marauder's wrist, making the man scream out in pain as well as let go of the stuck sword.

The bandit had to parry Link's following rapid attacks and managed to do so several times before eventually missing, getting cut across the side because of that one failure. He grunted, visually seething in anger that he wasn't able to murder a mere child as easily as he had hoped, not to mention the fact that he was beginning to take a beating. Still, there was also a look of fear hidden deep down, fear that his opponent was overwhelming him and he would be dead before long.

Now that he was down to one sword, he had to switch his tactics, looking around for anything that might help him. Unfortunately for the hero, the man found a wooden shield lying about that added to his defense, equipping it as fast as possible so he could return to battle. With a sword and a shield, he'd be better able to deflect the champion's fury.

"I told you…" He spoke as he panted. "I'm not going down so easily."

"Yes…" Link calmly confirmed as the two gradually moved in a circle, both trying to find a weakness in the other's defense. The young boy didn't let it show, but the pain in his back from being stabbed was beginning to increase each time he moved. Hiding the agony, he simply kept distracting the man with insults. "You've said that multiple times. In my experience, people don't say that unless they feel threatened and know they're going to lose."

"DIE!" The bandit screeched as he ran forward and made several slices in addition to a couple of chops.

Without haste, Link ducked and rolled off to the side to avoid the attacks altogether. Yet, when he went to stand back up, he had to parry a powerful slice to his torso. Their shields slammed together, metal against wood. Not giving the marauder a chance to recover, while keeping the enemy's sword arm held away, he reeled back the Hylian Shield just enough to use its edge to drag the bandit's shield out of alignment. Suddenly standing there wide-open, the guy found himself being assailed by the boy's shield, consecutively smacked in the face until it broke his fat nose. Having been stunned, he lost concentration and was then shanked in the side by the Upgraded Kokiri Sword.

"GHAAA!" The bandit hollered, cringing in pain.

Link kept at it by slicing the man's shoulder deep enough to make him drop his sword.

Even in the face of defeat, the marauder didn't stop. In addition to his sword, he dropped his shield in favour of grabbing the young boy by the throat with both hands to squeeze as hard as he possibly could. "YOU'RE NOT GOING TO WIN!" The bandit seemingly cried in spite of what he was saying, how he tried to remain confident. "I'M GOING TO KILL YOU FOR WHAT YOU'VE DONE!"

Due to being in such close proximity, Link tried stabbing the guy, only to discover he was being held just far enough away to not be able to reach. Suddenly the hero felt the danger of having his throat squeezed by a maniac with a goal to reach.

"I TOLD YOU!" The final marauder sprayed spit in the blonde lad's face as he laughed like a lunatic "I TOLD YOU THAT I'D KILL YOU!"

"You're… r-really… annoying…" Link had trouble saying as he kicked his feet wildly and struggled to try freeing himself from being choked to death. 'I need to do something quick.' His mind stated the obvious as the enemy's adrenaline could potentially collapse his boy's throat. 'Let's see if momentum can come to my aid again.' Dropping his shield, he stared at the bandit with red hot hatred burning in his eyes. Praying to all three goddesses, he made a last ditch effort to break free of the highwayman's intense grip. 'Din, Farore, Nayru… Let me end this fight.' Swinging his feet back and forth, he eventually got enough propulsion to do a backflip, twisting the man's arms in an unnatural position that dislocated both his humerus. The pain caused the bandit to drop to his knees, which lowered Link enough to touch the ground again. In a split second, even as the guy continued to hold onto his throat, the hero ran forth and stabbed him straight in the gut.

"No…" The bandit's pupils shrunk in disbelief from having sustained a fatal injury.

Link wasn't done with him, however, for he withdrew the sword for a moment in advance of thrusting it upward into the bottom of the marauder's mouth, allowing the blade to extend through the guy's head and into the corrupted brain. "It's over." He confirmed, staring at the guy's blank death expression as his body twitched from the dying signals trying to communicate with a destroyed mental control center. Not enjoying the effects of seeing a grown man's eyes roll up into his head or blood dripping from the nose, the young boy soon pushed the marauder's corpse away, letting gravity pull the flesh from the kokiri sword.

"Finally…" Link said as he wiped the red vital fluid off his sword, onto the corpses vest.

Looking around, the champion bore witness to the sheer destruction that had been caused by the dead assailants. One of the horses from the enemy wagon had freed itself from the confines of the tipped buggy, yet the others were still struggling to unpin themselves. All of the contents of the Lon Lon Wagon, crates and boxes, laid smashed amongst the ground surrounding the wreckage. He worried more regarding the horses than he did the wagons or their supply and chose to immediately act on assisting in their freedom.

Sheathing his sword, he limped over to the Lon Lon Wagon and quickly polished the Goron Bracelet he wore around his wrist, knowing he'd need it to lift such a tremendous weight. Giving the bracelet a quick kiss for luck, he then bent down and comforted all three horses, even the remaining enemy horse. Following that, he grabbed a hold of the edge of the tipped Lon Lon Wagon and proceeded to use all the strength he could muster to lift well over a thousand pounds. The wound on his back felt like an organ was going to come jutting out of it and the pain was almost unbearable from lifting so much, but he only needed to push himself enough that their two horses could get up from underneath and move out of the way, which they did so fairly quickly. "Grrrr!" He moaned and groaned in pain while letting the wagon fall back to the ground once the horses had moved.

"Alright…" He panted, each expansion of his lungs pulling at the stab wound on his back. Like a true champion, he swiftly did the same to the enemy wagon so that their innocent horse could get up and get away from the nightmare it had just been through. "There you go. Go on! Get!" He yelled at the horse to run away prior to dropping the buggy to the ground.

He collapsed to his knees for a moment as he caught his breath.

"Link…" Malon's voice could suddenly be heard calling for her boyfriend from a short distance away. "Link-…."

Looking in the direction his girlfriend called from, he wanted to stand up and run to her in order to make sure she and Talon were okay. Instead, he found a sharp gasp escaping from his lips as he saw the beautiful farm girl being held hostage by another bandit.

"Link…" Malon pleaded with tears, not knowing what to say or do as she had a knife held to her throat.

A second bandit revealed himself as he carried Talon's lifeless body out of the tall grass and tossed him onto the road. "Tough bastard for a fattie." The other marauder said with a laugh in advance of unsheathing his sword in preparation for fighting.

"D-Daddy!" Malon choked in horror upon seeing her father's body. Yet, when she tried to resist, the crook keeping the knife to her throat tightened his grip.

"Don't move you little bitch, or I'll slit your throat from ear to ear." He hissed in the farmgirl's ear. Leaning up, he saw Link still knelt down with a completely shocked look on his face. "Do you hear me?!" He shouted over toward the kid. "This game is over, boy! If you don't want your tiny girlfriend's head sawn from her body, you'll give up right now!"

"Okay!" Link had no choice other than to say, to do as he was told lest he lost both Talon and Malon. "I give up! You got me!"

Both bandits stood there for a few moments, deciding what to do. During the time it took them to figure out how to proceed, Link realized they were the same two assailants that remained from the first wagon he had earlier run off the road with a well placed crate in their horses path. The man holding Malon hostage was the same goon with an arrow stuck in his shoulder while the other was the driver.

"Do you see that rope?" The wounded bandit holding a knife to Malon's throat informed his partner. "Tie this little shit up so he can't do anymore of his tricks." Narrowing his eyes at the boy, he bore a look of disgust. "Don't try anything or you'll regret it."

The other marauder walked over to a busted crate with some loose rope and pulled enough out to use as bondage. Making his way over to Link, he was careful, watching the hero's every slight move to be sure he wasn't walking into a trap. Nonetheless, there was a certain level of confidence held due to having the kid's girlfriend held hostage as she was. Taking advantage of the situation, the bad man felt he was sure he'd be able to remove Link's sword and tie him up without any trouble. Yet, as soon as he touched the hilt of the champion's weapon, he found himself being bitten on the face.

Link used his teeth to rip a chunk of flesh from the man's cheek. When the guy stumbled backward, the hero unsheathed his sword with a flourish prior to slicing it across the marauder's belly, tearing out a few feet of his entrails.

"GUAH!" Was all the bandit could say as he grabbed at his own intestines. Thankfully, he didn't have to see his insides for long as his head was swiftly cleaved from his shoulders by an incredibly furious Hero of Time.

Not stopping for a second, Link turned to the last guy and darted in his direction with the intention of saving Malon.

"You son of a bitch!" The final bandit momentarily panicked "I warned you!" He shouted as he positioned the knife further up by the farmgirl's carotid artery. "I still have the advantage here!" Giving the red head a small slice to draw blood, showing how serious he was, he yelled "STOP RIGHT THERE OR SHE DIES!"

"OWW!" Malon cried with snot dripping from her nose and fresh blood seeping from her neck. "P-PLEASE DON'T HURT ME!"

Link stopped dead in his tracks twenty feet away from the two, his rapidly blinking eyes desperately attempting to analyze the situation, to find anyway out of this mess he'd found himself in. "Okay."

"No…" The injured bandit chuckled. "No, no, no. We already tried it that way. I'm not getting close to you as long as you have that fucking sword." Nodding his head, he continued with "Toss it. Toss your sword by my feet or else I'll kill her."

Link wasn't a fan of that plan as it made it far more difficult to stop the marauder from doing exactly as he said he was going to do. Either way, even with the sword, he couldn't contemplate a way to reach and kill the guy without him plunging that knife into her beforehand.

"TOSS THE FUCKING SWORD!" The guy screamed with flapping cheeks and bulging eyes.

"OKAY!" Link reluctantly agreed, doing as he was told since he saw no other possible way of extending the life of his beloved Malon. Aiming carefully, he tossed the Upgraded Kokiri Sword forward, where it landed a mere foot away from the bandit.

"Good…'' The bandit breathed a breath of relief upon seeing the cooperation. "Now move away from the body."

Link stepped away from the body of the previous marauder, forced to keep away from any other tools he might be able to use to defend himself or Malon.

"Now get back down on your knees and sit on your hands!" The guy ordered, knowing how to handle a violent combatant.

"What?" Link asked, pretending to be confused.

"DON'T FUCKING PLAY ME!" The bandit hollered as he tightened his grip on Malon's shoulder, making her wince in pain. "YOU MUST WANT THIS LITTLE BITCH TO DIE, BECAUSE YOU JUST KEEP ON FUCKING PLAYING ME!"

"NO!" Link pleaded before doing precisely as he was told. "I'll do it. I'll do it." Away from anything he could hope to use to his advantage, the hero was forced to essentially restrain himself by kneeling down and sitting back on his own hands, a pose which would intentionally take several seconds to get up from in order to fight back. "I'm sorry, Malon." He sniffled, trying hard to not cry. In his mind, he couldn't believe what was happening. He had trouble computing the fact that the goddesses were content with allowing this to happen. 'Please…' He prayed to them regardless. 'Please…'

"L-Link…" Malon cried out as she looked back and forth at him and the body of her lifeless father. "Daddy…" Her pupils shrank, then expanded before she seemed to collapse like a limp noodle, held up only by the firm grip of the marauder. Her head dropped too, making her red hair fall over and block her face along with any expression she might be making. Nonetheless, it was obvious she had given up. Even with all the courage she held, even after all she'd been through, the farmgirl appeared to simply resign herself to what unkind fate had been assigned to her this ungodly afternoon. Only warm salty tears could be seen falling to the ground, puddling around where she simply stood.

"SEE!?" The bandit grinned. "YOUR GIRL GETS IT! YOU LOST AND I WON!"

"I'm sorry, Malon!" Link shouted upon seeing her so utterly despondent. "This is all because of me! They wanted me!" He blamed himself. "This is all my fault!"

"Stupid boy…" The final marauder chuckled at the kid's anguish. Feeling proud of himself for winning, he started getting excited. Yet, he knew that would be his downfall, so he chose to remain as calm as he could. Using his intellect, he decided it would be best to commandeer the hero's sword. After all, it made sense that without his weapon, the champion wouldn't be nearly as effective at killing. It would be impossible to fight back with fists at this point. "That's right..." The grown adult played along by further degrading the young boy. "It is all your fault and you'll have to remember this for the rest of your life."

The man kept his eye on Link while bending down to pick up the Upgraded Kokiri Sword. His smile vanished however, when he heard a click sound. Having been watching Link, he realized the boy wasn't responsible. Glancing down for just a split second, he noticed the crestfallen farmgirl had grit her teeth, the force of which had caused the noise. Feeling that something was off, he worried, but figured it wasn't possible for much to happen. Quickly looking back at Link, who remained on the ground, the bandit said "What was tha-..."

Before he could finish his question, Malon threw her head back with a blood-curdling scream that echoed a mile away. The marauder's eyes widened in shock. On the other hand, he couldn't react before the redhead brought her hand up, grabbed a hold of the arrow sticking out of the man's shoulder and proceeded to rip it straight out of the wound.

"OOWWWWW!" He screamed, unintentionally letting go of the girl just enough for her to better defend herself.

Running on instinct, the farmgirl used the arrow to quite literally manually ram it through the bandit's left eye. "I'LL KILL YOU!" She shrieked as she yanked the arrow from his eye socket and then stabbed him in the other eye. "I'LL KILL YOU! I'LL KILL YOU! I'LL KILL YOU!" Blood poured from the mangled holes where the guy's eyeballs once were. The eyeballs themselves were skewered and squished onto the shaft of the arrow. It would soon become harder to tell what pieces were what as the girl continued to stab the dying marauder in the face, adding more and more torn flesh to the arrow's shaft like a disgusting hylian meat kabab. "DIE, DIE, DIE, DIE, DIE!" She continued to screech at the top of her lungs as she fell over onto the ground with the man's collapsing body, still stabbing away like a madwoman. "DIEEEEEEE!"

"MALON!" Link shot up from his self-restraint far quicker than he thought possible and quickly ran over to his blood splattered lover.

"HELL IS WHERE YOU BELONG!" Malon continued to scream as she proceeded to stab the arrow into the dead body's chest so hard that the shaft broke, leaving her just shanking the flesh with splintered wood until it too fell apart. But, even then the girl couldn't stop. She was seeing red and continued to attack the long deceased body, punching it over and over until her knuckles bruised and the pooled blood splashed back onto her numerous times. "HELL IS WHERE-...YOU-… BELONG!"

"MALON, STOP!" Link grabbed her arms and pulled her off the man's corpse. "HE'S DEAD! HE'S DEAD!"

The farmgirl kicked and flailed her feet as she screamed several more times at the mangled body. Eventually, once she was forcibly pulled far enough away, she simply broke down into tears and cried. "L-Link!" She sobbed uncontrollably. "I can't…" She suddenly gasped repeatedly and hyperventilated. "I can't breathe. I can't breathe."

"It's okay, sweetheart!" Link tried comforting her, stopping from holding her back and opting to hug her instead, embracing her closely without caring how much blood he got on him. "It's going to be okay. Just calm down."

"I can't breathe." She repeated.

Link brought his hands up to hold the farmgirl's face. "Look at me." He told her, getting her to focus her eyes on his. "You're fine. You're just having a panic attack." Wiping the blood from her face, he pressed his forehead to hers and gazed into her eyes with a comforting look, still trying his hardest to console her. "Take a deep breath, don't take short shallow ones. Deep breaths."

"I can't-..." Malon gasped, feeling as if her throat was closing up on her and her heart about to beat out of her chest.

"You can..." The hero reassured her. "Look. Look at me. Watch me, do as I do." Showing her how it's done since in this moment of heightened emotions she couldn't think, Link demonstrated the technique by slowly sucking in a deep breath. He inhaled, then exhaled. "Do it." He tried to be slightly stern so she'd listen to him. "Do it exactly like me."

Staring straight into Link's eyes, Malon copied him as best as she could. Her lungs felt like they were on fire. But, thankfully the breathing technique did help alleviate some of that unpleasant sensation.

"That's it, sweetheart." The hero gave her some positive reinforcement. "Keep going, just like that." He continued to breathe calmly along with her. "In…" He took a slow deep breath. "Out." He exhaled at a slow and steady pace.

Before long, after a couple minutes of getting her breathing under control, Malon nodded. "Okay…" Gripping onto Link's shoulders, she squeezed them, trying to keep herself grounded in reality in spite of shaking from fright. "Okay, I think I'm alright."

Now that she wasn't freaking out, the boy took the opportunity to check over her body to see what injuries she'd sustained. Right away he spotted the slice to her neck where the dastardly marauder cut her to threaten him. He grabbed his floppy green hat off the top of his head and held it to where it bled. Taking her right hand, he put it on the hat and made her compress the wound. After that, he gently drew his hands down her side until she winced, making him take note of how sore the right side of her ribs were from impacting the wagon so roughly during the crash. Since he didn't want to pull her dress up out there in Hyrule Field so he could get a better look at the bruise, he decided to move on. Gently holding onto her left hand, he examined the laceration from where an arrow had sliced its way across the top. There were many places where she was sore, yet none that were immediately life threatening.

"Daddy!?" Malon abruptly seethed, gasping in fright. "Please, Link!"

"I'm on it." Link responded right away. "You stay right here and keep my hat pressed to your neck. It'll slow the bleeding."

Turning to look in the direction of Talon, he saw the overweight man lying motionless on the road, in the exact same spot he was left by the bandit. Even though the hero was running on adrenaline and wasn't out of combat mode yet, he knew the outlook didn't bode well. He too feared the loss of Talon, for the man had taken him into his home and under his wing, acting as the surrogate father in hylian form Link had never gotten. More than anything, Link was scared that the man had been killed by those ruffians. Nonetheless, he stayed calm, making his way over in a hastened pace.

Bending down, he knelt by the farmer, staring at his face. Talon had his eyes closed and wasn't budging an inch. He had a massive welt on the side of his head from where he'd been hit. The bandit mentioned something about him putting up a fight, so it was no surprise they had to hurt him badly in order to properly incapacitate him. They had to take him out somehow as he would never allow them to touch his child, much less a maniac holding a knife to her throat.

"Mr. Talon." Link spoke softly as he grabbed the man's hand, giving it a small shake. "Mr. Talon. Wake up."

Since he didn't get a response from the big farmer after calling his name and nudging him, the hero decided to feel for a pulse. Using his index and middle finger, he placed them to Talon's neck, making an attempt at feeling the veins throb if the man was still alive. "Dammit…" Link cursed as he searched for a heartbeat. Although he'd trained with Captain Osun, it wasn't a skill of his to find pulses. "Why is it always so hard for me?" Deciding to do it the old fashioned way, he let go of the man's neck and chose to feel for a heartbeat over the chest instead. "Come on…"

For a split second, as Talon's status remained in question, Link feared the possibility that he wasn't alive. He wondered what would happen if that were the case. He pondered if there even would be a Lon Lon Ranch without the man who started it all. He also contemplated whether or not he'd still be able to live there or if he'd be forced to move back to the Kokiri Village. It was likely he'd be offered the keep his job if Ingo took over, but there was always the possibility that, as the last surviving adult, the farmhand wasn't interested, not skilled enough or just potentially wanted to shut down the ranch and move away. Then again, the entire ordeal would be absolutely devastating to the farm girl. He knew she'd never be the same. No matter what, he prepared himself to always be there for her and to go anywhere she went.

Then he felt it. Talon's heart thumped beneath the boy's hand, making a physical beat as the arteries did their job pumping blood. "Thank Farore." A massive wave of relief washed over him. "Thank Farore…" Turning back to his girlfriend, he immediately shared the good news. "HE'S ALIVE!"

"Praise Farore!" Malon thanked the goddess of life.

Link very lightly touched the goose egg on Talon's forehead and bore witness as the grown man came back to life screaming like a little girl. It startled the hero, but overall made him happy to see the farmer roused from his forced slumber. "Mr. Talon, it's okay, it's me… It's Link."

Talon opened his eyes with a cringe of pain. "I'm in a world a hurt." He bemoaned the beating he'd taken by the two bandits. Leaning up, he winced even when his own fingers touched the bruised swelling. All of a sudden, everything came back to him. The look in his eyes said he was petrified for the safety of his daughter. Shaking like a leaf, sure enough, he ignored the pain to shout "MALON!? WHERE ARE YA!?"

"I'm here, Daddy!" Malon immediately replied from where she remained, refusing to move as her nerves were completely blown from all she'd been through.

"She's fine…" Link assured the heavyset farmer. "What about you? What happened?"

Talon groaned a few times prior to saying "I remember we were watchin' ya fight. Ya looked like ya were 'bout to finish, so the two of us went to try and help the horses out from 'neath the wagons." He coughed and once again winced as pain shot through his system like a bolt of lightning. "The two highwaymen from the first carriage musta caught up with us, sneakin' 'hind us while we were busy, 'cause the last thing I remember is someone grabbin' me by the neck and tacklin' me to the ground. I gave it my all, but I musta fainted after I got hit in the head."

"I don't think they were highwaymen." Link debated. "I heard one of them talking about the Gerudo, which means they were likely hired by our favourite man."

"Ganondorf?" Talon enquired.

Link nodded his head while searching over the farmer's body to see if there were any unseen injuries. Thankfully, other than the bruises, he couldn't find life-threatening injuries. "Yeah. Let's not worry about that right now though." Placing his hand on Talon's shoulder, he asked. "Can you stand?"

"I think so…" Talon confirmed as he managed to get back onto his feet. "That's the second time I been asked that today; probably notta good thing."

"Let's get over there to Malon." The hero prepared the man for the mental state his daughter was currently in. "She needs our support after what just happened." Standing up, the boy made his way back over toward the distraught farmgirl, returning to comfort her. Although he too was upset at having been attacked as well as the fact that he had to take the lives of several people, he knew it was different for someone who'd barely been in a fight before.

"Wait, what 'appened?" Talon asked, trying to fill in the gaps of what he missed, what events occurred while he was unconscious. "Ya killed them both, right?"

Clearing his throat, Link was unsure of how to respond. The best he could think of was to tell the truth. "I killed one."

Together, they both walked over toward Malon. Yet, Talon was still confused by what the hero said. Passing by the marauder with his entrails spilled out and head detached from his neck, the man made the rightful assumption the criminal was killed by Link as only a well-trained swordsman could do such a thing. "What do ya mean? What 'bout the other guy, how did he die?"

"Malon killed him." Link stated calmly.

Talon came to a stop as if there were glue in his tracks. He took a moment to process what was said. Staring over at the corpse of the other bandit, his eyes-widened and mouth dropped open once he saw how annihilated the face was in addition to the stuck end of the arrow shaft protruding from the chest. It was a beautiful day, and yet there was so much red staining the green ground, tarnishing the tranquility of fresh grass, bees and flowers. The farmer's hands balled into fists and clenched tightly at the sight of it all. A lump formed in his throat as a tear formed in advance of rolling down his cheek. "M-Malon did this?" He asked with a shaky voice

"Yes." Was all Link said before coming upon and kneeling down in front of the farmgirl, who was still holding his hat to her neck and doing deep breath techniques in order to stay calm. "How are you, my dear?" The champion asked, once again gently placing his hand to her cheek. "Are you okay?"

"I wanna go home." She whispered as tears poured from her stress-strained eyes.

Link wrapped his arms around her while making sure to keep it easy, being sure to not hurt her with the squeeze of comfort he wanted to give. "I know. We're going there, I promise."

"W-What about the wagon and the horses?" She worried for others in spite of all she was experiencing. "What about you?" Closing her eyes, she buried her face in the boy's neck. "I saw you get stabbed." She said with a muffled voice from her mouth being pressed to his sweaty skin. "You need a doctor."

"I'll be okay." Link kept pretending as if he wasn't in pain.

"No ya won't." Talon spoke in a strangely stern voice. The farmer walked over and lifted the back of the young hero's tunic, revealing the wound from the bandit's sword. It didn't look horrible, yet was bleeding rather profusely. "Yer' bleedin' all over. It's runnin' down yer' back and leg." Sighing loudly, he sniffled a few times before releasing his hold of the tunic, letting it fall into place. "Whether ya wanna or not, ya need ta go make sure ya don't have a punctured organ. If ya do, yer' bleed out, no matter the stitchin'."

From behind them as well as the wreckage, all three of them abruptly heard the wheels of wagons incoming.

"Son of a-..." Link lamented as he instantly feared another round of bandits. He refused to contemplate the possibility of losing, but deep down knew there was a chance as he was already tired, wounded and demoralized. If he had to fight another fresh group of bandits hyped up by the promise of big rupees, it might not end well. No matter the concern, he did as he always did and chose to protect his family. Unsheathing his sword, he readied it as well as his Hylian Shield. "Everybody stay here."

"Link!" Malon grabbed his arm with fear in her eyes. "Don't go!"

Turning back to his beloved, he saw the tremendous trepidation plastered on her face. "I'll be okay, sweetheart. I promise." He didn't have much time, but made sure to give the farmgirl a tender kiss on the lips. At the moment, he merely wanted to give her the quick smooch to assure her. But, after turning away, he was suddenly glad he did as he was horrified it would be the last time he'd ever do so. "Stay here unless you hear me say run."

"Talon?" Link delicately pulled his arm away from the farmgirl prior to staring up at the man, then reaching down to grab one of the deceased marauder's swords. "Do what you have to do." Leaning back up, he flipped the sword like a showsman and held onto the tip of the blade, offering the handle to the big farmer. "Never give up."

Once the farmer took the sword, he held it at the ready the best he could as an untrained bumpkin. "Be careful, Link." Was all he said.

Turning back toward the wreckage of the two wagons, he readied himself in advance of hustling over to take cover behind them. Getting close enough to where he heard the sounds, he verified there were indeed other individuals as he could hear their voices conversing amongst each other. He counted five of them and listened as they continued making noise in what was presumably their own wagon. If they were more bandits, the boy wondered why they hadn't made a move yet. Still, he stayed ready to attack them if they were there to hurt them. Taking a deep breath of his own, he psyched himself up, telling himself that he'd fight until he either died or bled out before letting anyone else try to capture him and his loved ones.

"What a mess." One of the voices said.

"There's another body." Another voice replied.

Due to listening closely, he could hear the jingle of chainmail armour. 'Shit…' He mentally cursed his rotten luck. 'They're armored too.' A bead of sweat dripped from his forehead to his chin, mixing with blood and dirt before falling to the ground as he grit his teeth. 'This isn't going to be easy.'

"Spread out…" Yet another voice commanded. "Find the Lons and that boy they adopted."

"Yes sir!" Four voices said in unison.

Link narrowed his eyes as he realized they weren't mere bandits. Regular marauders didn't follow leadership like that. 'Is this the leader of these bastards?' Gripping his sword tightly, he listened and heard footsteps encroaching upon his position. The hero swallowed roughly as he prepared to fend off more criminals. 'Whatever. I'll kill them too. I'll do whatever it takes to keep Malon and Talon safe.' Closing his eyes for a split second, he envisioned Malon's face, envisioning her look of terror and using it to keep motivated as he never wanted to see it again, never wanting his girlfriend to feel that way again. 'Din, Nayru, Farore…' He opened his eyes and exhaled in advance of yelling "GIVE ME STRENGTH!"

Right as the footsteps were just around the corner of the wrecked wagon, Link jumped out from behind cover with every muscle in his body ready to carve the enemy like an over-cooked cucco. From instinct, he spotted and automatically sliced the spear in half that was being wielded by the person. However, who he presumed was a bad guy turned out to be a Castle Town guard dressed in their traditional garb. By the hands of fate, the boy barely succeeded in holding back from lunging with a stab to the underside of the man's armpits; having previously decided to go for the most likely weak spot of the armour.

"WAIT, WAIT, WAIT!" The guard actually dropped his spear, fell backward and crawled a few feet in the other direction before getting back onto his feet.

"STOP RIGHT THERE!" Several of the other guards announced as they surrounded Link with the tip of their spears all pointed directly at him. "PUT DOWN YOUR WEAPON, NOW!"

The guard who had been shocked by Link's sudden appearance as well as the arupt disarmament held onto his dagger, but kept it sheathed. As for the guard in control of the situation, he didn't hold back as he unsheathed his broadsword and joined in the fray. "YOU BETTER LISTEN TO WHAT WE'RE SAYIN', SON!" The head guardsmen demanded. "PUT DOWN THAT SWORD AND SHIELD, NOW!"

Yet again, the champion had people barking orders at him. He knew they weren't bandits, that they were there to help. On the other hand, his body seemed to have locked-up. He was amazed he didn't kill the first guard as he barely held back from releasing all the energy he had left in reserve. For some reason, however, he couldn't move. His muscles remained at the ready as his brain temporarily short-circuited.

"WAIT!" The first guard rushed into the center with Link, holding his hands up to block his comrades from attacking. "Lower your weapons, please. This is Link! I didn't realize he's who the Lons adopted, but I recognize him! He used to train with Captain Osun!"

"Captain Osun?" A couple of guards said as they immediately lowered their spears in recognition of the greatest Knight of Hyrule left alive.

"Are ya sure he's not a threat?!" The head guard asked with hesitation in his voice. "He looks like he's lost his mind!"

Turning around, the guard laid his hand on Link's shoulder without worry for his safety. "Are you okay, son? You can relax now. We're not here to hurt you." Glancing around, he decided to ask for more information, hoping the young lad could fill them in on what happened. "Where is Talon and his daughter, are they okay?"

Link gradually nodded in confirmation while also slowly lowering his sword and shield. "They're over there, on the side of the road. I kept them safe." Out of nowhere, the hero felt his knees begin to buckle. All the energy in his body seemed to drain out his pores in the form of sweat until he fell toward the ground.

"Hey!" The guard exclaimed as he caught the boy by the shoulders, keeping him from hitting the ground with a thud. "Are you okay?"

"I-… I need a doctor." The champion mustered as he closed his eyes and proceeded to take more deep breaths.

Patting the boy's body, the guardsman eventually found his gauntlet getting soaked with blood whenever he touched Link's lower back. "By the goddesses." He said in shock after realizing how bad the stab was. Looking around, the man saw the other guards approaching Talon and Malon. Feeling as if his partners could handle the rest, the caring guard decided to lift the boy into his arms and carry him over to the carriage they had arrived in, being careful to not jab himself on the sword the kid refused to let go of. "Don't you worry, son. We're going to get you the help you need." Being as gentle as he could, he placed the child's shivering body in the back, down on the wagon bed.

From behind, Link could see another wagon of guards arriving at the scene. After watching them jump out to go help, he laid his head back against the wood wagon bed and closed his eyes again.

The head guard approached the only adult that was present at the time. "Can ya tell us what happened, sir?" He pressed Talon for answers.

Talon winced in pain, but had no problems responding with a hint of sarcasm as he wasn't really in the mood to explain everything in elaborate detail. "We were attacked by bandits, what in the name of Din does it look like? They ran us off the road and tried to kill us. If it weren't for the skills of that boy, all three of us'd be dead."

Looking back at the wagon where Link lay, the head guard remained in disbelief. "That kid did all of this? He killed all of the bandits?"

"They weren't bandits." Malon stated in spite of knowing she should say anything about it.

"Excuse me?" The guard directed his attention to the farmgirl. "What do ya mean?"

Standing up, Malon seemed to take out a bit of anger on the guard by breaching his personal space, getting in his face as best a short girl could with a tall adult man. "They're assassins paid by Gerudo, Gerudo who've been hunting people right under your pathetic nose!" She went a step too far by shoving the man with all her strength, pushing him back a bit and causing him to stumble. "You failed again like you did with that jerk Ganondorf! He's going to have us all murdered because you're too weak to stop them!"

"Whoa!" The guard regained his footing and then grabbed Malon's injured hand, yanking it to get her to stop moving. "Stop right there, little girl or you'll be thrown in the dungeon for assaulting an official!"

"Hey!" Talon voiced his opinion toward the guard. "Relax! She's traumatized!"

Letting go of the girl's wrist, the guard waved her off before turning back to Talon. "What the hell is she talking about? Gerudo assassins? Are ya aware if these men were bein' paid by gerudo?"

Talon shook his head with a sigh. "I don't know. We both hit our heads pretty good whenever the wagon crashed. I think she just needs rest."

The guard narrowed his eyes for a moment in advance of saying "So, ya don't know if these men are involved with gerudo spies?"

Once more, Talon shrugged and shook his head. "No… She's just talkin' crazy and needs rest."

"See to it that she doesn't freak out like that again or I'll have to detain her." The head guardsmen stated more aggressively than was required.

"I'll make sure." The farmer replied as he limped over to Malon and led her over to the guard's wagon where Link was.

Even as hurt as she was, both physically and mentally, the farmgirl could tell her father was acting strange to her. He hadn't checked on her, comforted her or so much as glanced in her direction. His stoic demeanor saddened and made her nervous about what he was thinking. Nonetheless, she walked with him until they made it to the wagon. Without delay, she climbed up into the wagon to make sure her beloved hero was okay.

"Hey…" Link said to her as he started getting a bit of a chill from the blood loss.

"Hey…" Malon said back to him.

Seeing the worry in all their eyes, the first guard who nearly got hit by Link and then later carried the lad to safety said "We're going to take him to the sanitarium. If either of you think you need to go or just want to go with him, you can ride along."

"I oughta get this looked at." Talon spoke, referring to the gnarly goose egg on the side of his forehead while climbing into the back of the wagon as well.

"Same here. Besides, I'm going to stay with Link." Malon chimed in.

"All three, huh?" The guard stated in advance of looking at the other guard's showing up to assist. "I'm going to go ask for permission to go ahead and have him driven there. I don't want him bleeding out while waiting for us to make sure there isn't anyone else he missed." Tapping on the side of the wagon, he closed the hinged door of the tail section, slamming it hard to lock it in place. After that, he walked away to speak to the head guard.

Talon sat down, leaning against the side of the wagon.

Malon held Link's hand as she sat down in front of him and next to her father. "Please don't die." She whispered to him with grave concern.

"I won't, my dear." Link assured her.

"I love you." She said to him "I love you so much."

"I love you too." He immediately replied. "More than anybody."

As fast as the guard said it would happen, the wagon suddenly started moving as one of the guard's sitting in the driver's seat whipped the reins while tugging it to the left to make the horses turn around on the road, needing them to head toward Castle Town to get to the sanitarium. "Don't worry!" The nice guard's voice grew faint as he stayed behind. "My partner will get you there in no time!"

Link and Talon closed their eyes to rest, but Malon couldn't. She kept them open and watched as they rode further and further from the wrecked carriages. In the surrounding vicinity, she even saw one of the guard's helping to round up the horses. That kindness helped put her mind more at ease as she had one less thing to worry about. After traveling a minute more down the road, she also saw one of the bodies of the bandits that had been killed with a pitchfork. She looked away from the carnage and momentarily stared down at Link's hand, gently squeezing it and holding it to her face for comfort. When she felt him squeeze her hand in return, she started crying, unable to stop herself. Tears rolled on her cheeks as she whimpered from the pain as well as the misery.

Feeling a bigger hand on her shoulder, she glanced back up to see her father with his eyes still closed and a blank expression on his face. "Are you m-mad at me?" She asked him, blurting out the question in spite of meaning to keep it to herself.

Talon opened his eyes and turned his head in her direction. With sympathetic eyes, he finally said. "No, baby. I ain't mad at ya." Realizing his mistake of failing to properly comfort her, he instantly changed his attitude and pulled her into an embrace where she proceeded to break down into sobs. "I'm not mad at you." He reiterated as thoughts of his wife fighting bandits flickered through his mind.

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[Time: 11:00 A.M. (Before the Bandit Battle)]

[Date: Month 6 'Early-Summer', Day 24, 8th Era]

(Location: Hyrule, Castle Town - Back Alley)

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A big-nosed man with long black-hair stood outside the back entrance to a local tavern, his red tunic as bright as the bricks the building was made out of. He waited there for several minutes, twiddling his thumbs until he heard a small commotion behind the door to the building. Brushing the wrinkles out of his tunic, he acted as if he hadn't been bored and smiled with crooked teeth for whoever was on the other side.

Several clanks could be heard as locks were unfastened. Once the door opened, the aroma of desert spices permeated the air. A hooded figure appeared in the doorway that stood about a foot taller than the man himself. The individual wasted no time in beckoning the big-nosed man into the back room of the tavern, using their braceleted hands to motion for him to enter.

"Thanks for meeting with me." The man said as he walked inside.

"Mhmm…" The hooded individual hummed in confirmation as they closed the door and quickly reattached four solid iron padlocks. After that, they turned around and walked over to a firepit in the middle of the room where they were clearly making food which simmered in a medium pot.

"I won't waste your time." The long-haired man informed the individual. "I think I spotted the young boy you've been looking for. He's here right now in Castle Town making a delivery. It looks like he's been hiding at Lon Lon Ranch."

"You're sure?" The hooded person spoke in a gravelly voice.

Nodding, the other man replied "I'm fairly sure. He and the farmgirl from the ranch bumped into me while I was working, carrying crates. He's a kid, short, has blonde hair, blue eyes and wears green clothing that makes him look like a kokiri. Apparently his name is Link."

Stopping for a moment as they processed the description, the hooded figure soon grabbed two bowls from off a nearby table, giving one to the man while keeping the other for themselves. Using a ladle that was already in the pot, they scooped out some of the soup and poured it into the bowl the person held. Returning to the pot, they scooped up another ladleful before bringing it over to and filling the bowl the man was holding. Once they were done, they found a stool in the corner, sat on it and began eating without saying a single word.

"Do-…" The man said hesitantly. "Do you think it's him?"

"We'll see." The hooded figure simply stated.

Smelling the bowl of food, the big-nosed man found it to be interesting. Although it wasn't what his usual meals smelled like, he was intrigued enough to take a bite. At first, he liked it. The rice was cooked perfectly and the sauce held such a complex assortment of spices that it sparked a rich flavor in a way he didn't know was possible in a bare-bone soup. However, after several bites, he began to feel his face heat up and throat tighten a bit. He tugged at his tunic a few times to get air flowing along his skin. Suddenly that new flavor was replaced with a level of spice he simply couldn't handle. "Holy crap…" He made a face and swallowed painfully. Putting the bowl down, he opted to fan his face. "Is there something to drink around here? I feel like I could swallow all of Lake Hylia right now."

Chuckling softly, the hooded figure fetched a drink consisting of Hydromelon Juice. "It is an acquired taste."

"Yeah…" The big-nosed man choked. "I'm gonna need to acquire new taste buds after this because I think they just burned off." Taking the glass of juice, he swiftly downed the entire thing, but continued to fan his face. "Whew…"

The other person resumed eating without a problem with the level of spice.

"How are we going to do this? Do you have spies that'll find him or are you going to do it yourself?" The man inquired as he fanned at his face and even his tongue.

"I have my ways." The unknown figure said before reaching up, taking hold of the robe's hood and gently lowering it to reveal a middle-aged Gerudo woman who had been hiding her face from the public the entire time. She knew her kind was currently banned from Hyrule and if she got caught would be either detained or violently deported. Then again, she wasn't just a resident trying to live her life in fear of soldiers. The woman had a nefarious reason for being there. "All you have to worry about right now is that you didn't waste my time and actually found who Lord Dragmire has been looking for."